The Black Pit
by RavenNM
Summary: While on a mission with Natsu and Happy, Lucy is poisoned and starts acting violent and hurting her friends. Will Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail be able to save her before she goes too far? Nalu with a bit of Gruvia. Rated M for bloody violence and lemon.
1. Chapter 1

* I do not own Fairy Tail, but I wish I did.

**Lucy POV**

I was dragging my feet as I walked into the guild. I was just so tired. It took a lot of energy just to make my way to my usual seat at the bar. Luckily, Mira saw me coming and had a cup of tea waiting for me by the time I sat down.

"Thanks, Mira."

"Why so tired," she asked me.

"Natsu…" I grumbled before taking a sip of my tea.

She giggled. "Oh, come on. What did he do this time?"

Taking another drink of my hot tea, I let out a sigh. "I went to bed alone last night and Natsu snuck into my bed while I was sleeping. He must have been thrashing around and pushed me out of bed because I woke up on the floor. And not only did I end up sleeping on the cold, hard floor; when I woke him up, he was expecting me to make him breakfast!"

"Aw, but that sounds so cute!" Mira said with a sweet smile on her face.

I scowled at her as I took another sip of my tea. _Of course she would say that, she's been trying to set me and Natsu up for a while now._

"I just wish he would give me some privacy," I told her.

"I don't know. Sounds like he just wants to be close to you," Mira said as she wiped down the bar.

"Sounds to me like flame-brain is just being annoying," Gray said as he took the seat next to me. He'd apparently been listening in on our whole conversation.

"You have no room to talk, Gray. You break into my apartment almost as much as Natsu does," I said, directing a glare in his direction. Hearts appeared in Mira's eyes at that statement. No doubt, she was wondering who would be a cuter couple; mea and Natsu or me and Gray.

"At least when I come over it's for a good reason. And I don't ransack your fridge or sleep in your bed," he argued.

"That may be true, but Natsu is fully dressed when he breaks in," I countered. "I mean really, Gray. Put on your clothes!"

"Crap!" Seeing that he had stripped down to his boxers again, he went off to locate his clothes.

I sighed, thinking that I should have just stayed at home to get some more sleep. But I had to take a job soon to pay my rent and get some money for food. Taking another sip of my tea, I was unprepared for the arm that was thrown around my shoulders.

"Hey, Luce!" Natsu practically yelled in my ear.

My entire body jerked in surprise and my tea spilt down the front of my shirt, burning my skin. I heard an "oops," an "oh dear," and someone else was laughing. I didn't care who said what, all I knew is that I was going to kill a certain pink haired idiot.

**Gray POV**

I saw Natsu throw his arm around Lucy and the tea spill down the front of her shirt. Then I saw the dark aura surround her and felt myself sweat. The look on her face was just as scary as Erza's when she got mad and I was grateful that it wasn't directed at me for once.

Not wanting to see the carnage that was about to ensue, I turned away. But I couldn't help but hear my frienemy pleading for his life.

"What's going on here?"

I turned and saw Erza striding toward the partners, ready to break up the fight. My hand shot out and took hold of her arm to keep her back. Even though she shot me a look that said "release my arm or you shall receive horrific punishment, I didn't let go.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I told her before she could kill me. "Natsu has had Lucy in a bad mood all morning and he just made her spill hot tea down the front of her shirt…"

"LUCY KICK!"

Erza and I turned back in time to see Natsu sailing through the air, a boot mark on his face, and fly head first into one of the guild's pillars. The impact was enough to crack the wood as his body fell to the floor in a heap. I couldn't help but cringe, having been on the receiving end of a "Lucy kick" in the past, I knew how much they hurt.

She kept her head down, her bangs hiding her eyes, and muttered that she was going home before stomping out of the guild. I saw other members move out of her way as she left.

**Lucy POV**

I searched my apartment for intruders when I got home; ready to hurt anyone who was dumb enough to bother me right then. When I was sure that I was alone, I stripped off my tea-stained clothes and threw them in the dirty laundry. Then I grabbed a towel and went to take a bath.

A soak in the hot water helped my mood a lot. I even started to feel bad for beating up Natsu. I know that he means well but he's got to understand boundaries. Stretching my arms, I decided to take a nap after I was done with my bath then go back to the guild to apologize.

By the time the water started getting cold, I was half asleep. I went to my bedroom, letting my towel drop to the floor and grabbed a fresh set of sleepers from my dresser. Dressing quickly, I collapsed on my bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. "Yes, I'll apologize to Natsu when I go back to the guild," I said sleepily. "Or maybe I'll let him apologize to me first. He's so cute when he apologizes to me…"

**Natsu POV**

My head was still spinning from Lucy's kick. I should have run away as fast as I could when I saw her spill her tea but it was too late. Sitting up, I touched the back of my head and felt a large bump growing quickly. _That's going to hurt for a while._

Shaking it off, I walked over to the bar and took a seat. "Mira, can I get the usual?"

"Coming right up, Natsu," she said in her usual sing-song voice.

Sitting there, I couldn't stop wondering why Luce was so mad at me. I understood her being mad because of the tea, but that wasn't enough to deserve a "Lucy kick." If something else had made her mad, I'd have hoped that she would tell me. I'm her partner, after all.

Mira brought my plate of fire chicken and a side of noodles in spicy sauce. "Here you go, Natsu! How's your head?"

"I'll be fine, but what's wrong with Lucy?" I asked. "She's been weirder than usual today."

"From what she said earlier, she's just tired," Mira told him before walking off to get Cana another barrel of beer.

_Huh, that makes sense._ When I'd gone to her apartment the night before, she'd been having a fitful night's sleep and had fallen out of bed. I had picked her up and put her back in bed, but she'd immediately started tossing and fell out again. The next time, I decided to climb in bed with her, thinking that maybe if I held her she would calm down. I fell asleep a little while later and woke up to a pillow hitting my face; I left not long after that.

After finishing my food, I decided to go check on Lucy, maybe ask her if she wanted to go on a mission with me. I walked out of the guild, barely thinking as my feet took the familiar path.

When I climbed through her window, I didn't she her in her bed but a quick sniff confirmed that she was in the apartment. Seeing that the bathroom door was closed, I decided to wait until she was done. Walking to the kitchen, I was looking for something to eat when I heard the door open.

I looked around the corner and saw Lucy in nothing but a towel. Just as I was about to let her know that I was there, the towel dropped to the floor. My face turned bright red as I ducked back into the kitchen. _Crap, crap, crap! I can't let her know I'm here now! She'll kill me!_ Afraid to even breathe, I was motionless until I heard the bed creak as Lucy climbed under the covers.

Peeking around the corner, I saw that her eyes were closed. If I was going to make it out of the apartment alive, I'd have to wait until she was fully asleep. When I heard her talk, I thought I'd been caught, but her voice was so calm and quiet I decided that she was talking to herself.

"Yes, I'll apologize to Natsu when I get back to the guild…" a sleepy smile spread across her face. "Or maybe I'll let him apologize first," she sighed. "He's so cute when he apologizes to me…" She drifted off, sleep finally taking her.

Seeing my chance to escape, I slipped out the window to the street and started running back to the guild. My mind was racing as even faster than my feet. _I made it out alive! I just saw the naked backside of my partner! She thinks I'm cute?_

Bursting through the guild doors, I went to the bar and sat down to catch my breath. The shock of what I'd seen and heard was still on my mind. I mean, I know that people think I'm dense when it comes to women, and I kind of am, but I still know when a woman looks sexy. And, Mavis help me, nothing had ever been sexier than the sight of Lucy's bare ass. If I hadn't been so terrified of what she would do to me if she found out I was there, I might have kept staring.

"Are you okay, Natsu?"

Looking up, I saw Mirajane standing in front of me. From the look on her face, she'd been trying to get my attention for a while.

"Something strong, now!"

Though she looked concerned, she went to pour my drink. Then I felt a cold presence sit next to me.

"What happened to you? You piss off Lucy again?" Gray asked me.

I felt my face start to burn up. _What am I supposed to say? That I saw Lucy without clothes and almost got a nose bleed? That I heard her say that I was cute? Crap… ugh…_

"None of your business, ice princess," I yelled at him.

"What did you call me, flame-brain," he yelled back.

"Shovel the snow out of your ears already, snowman!"

I saw the punch coming but I didn't bother dodging it. At that moment, I would prefer to take a hit so I could dodge the question. We started fighting and I was able to relax. Still, what would I do when Lucy came back to the guild? How was I going to look at her without picturing her naked?


	2. Chapter 2

***I still don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters, but I love writing about them!**

**Lucy POV**

The hot bath and nap were just what I needed to bring me back to the world of the living. I practically skipped back to the guild. Now I just needed to find Natsu and apologize, I'd overreacted because of how exhausted I had been and felt really guilty.

_Maybe I should invite him on a mission with me! My rent is coming up soon anyway._

Walking into the guild, I saw him sitting at a table with Happy. The blue exceed had a half-eaten fish in his mouth while the dragon slayer was chomping down on plate of meat. I wasn't sure if I should approach him at first, but I shook off my hesitation and walked over to him.

"Hey, Natsu."

What happened next, if I hadn't seen it for myself, I might not have believed it. He stopped mid-bite his body went ridged and his face turned bright red. Then he dropped the meat on the plate and turned to me with an expression I had never seen on him before. If it had been anyone else, I would have said that he looked nervous.

"Lu… Lucy…"

_Wow, this is bad. Him acting nervous is making me feel nervous._

"I'm sorry, Luce," he blurted out. "I didn't mean to scare you earlier or spill the tea on you."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kicked you. I was just really tired," I told him.

We stood there for a minute just looking at each other, and then we both started laughing. _Yep, Natsu really is cute when he apologizes._ That thought got me blushing. Did I really think Natsu was cute?

Suddenly, Happy floated up between us with his paws on his cheeks. "You liiikkkee each other!"

"Shut it, cat!" I yelled.

"Waahh! Lucy's scary face! Natsu, save me!" Happy cried as he ducked behind his friend. Natsu just scratched the back of his head and grinned.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I was finally relaxed and did not want that blue cat to put me in a bad mood again.

"Hey, Luce. Happy and I were going to go on a job; do you want to come with?"

Smiling, I gave him a nod and we went to the request board to find one.

**Normal POV**

"Ugh… never again… *blurgh*" Natsu was leaning out the window of the train while Lucy and Happy watched.

"We're almost there, and I promise we'll walk back to the guild when the mission's over," Lucy told him. She knew the promise of one less train ride would make him happy, but he might not realize it until later.

He sat back in his seat, sweat was coating his face. She knew that vehicles made him queasy but they had to get to Kunugi before dark. The job they had chosen was to investigate strange happenings in the forest near the town. People were apparently going in healthy and returning to town the next day, completely crazy with no indication as to why. Lucy hadn't been sure about taking the job at first, but it would pay 250,000 jewels. It was at least worth looking into.

Natsu moaned again and fell over in his seat. "I'm gonna die…"

"Hang in there, Natsu. Only another hour until we reach the station," Happy said as he patted his friend's shoulder.

Not being able to watch her best friend suffer anymore, she lifted his head, sat down and laid his head on her lap. Lucy stroked her fingers through his pink hair, hoping to sooth him a bit. "Try to go to sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to Kunugi," she told him in a soft voice.

Natsu relaxed as Lucy ran her fingers gently through his hair. The rocking motion still made his stomach turn but Lucy was keeping his head from spinning. He took a deep breath and her scent filled his nostrils with a mix of strawberries and honey. _Sweet and soothing, that's my Lucy,_ he thought as he drifted off.

She noticed almost immediately when Natsu fell asleep on her lap. She was relieved that he was no longer suffering. She should have done this from the start and she would have to remember this trick for next time.

"Thank you, Lucy."

She looked up to see Happy smiling at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

**Lucy POV**

"Why does it have to be so dark? I can't even see the stars tonight," I mumbled. I knew I was whining, but I didn't care. We had been walking around the forest outside of Kunugi since sundown and hadn't found any hint to why people were leaving the forest crazy. Now I was tired, cold, it was really dark out and I was starting to get hungry.

"Stop complaining, I can see just fine." Natsu said as he kept walking.

_Sure, must be nice to have dragon senses so you can see where you're going,_ I thought as I struggled to keep my footing. I was glad that I decided to wear boots instead of sandals that day or else my feet might have been bleeding from all the thorns and twigs. I didn't even want to think about all the bugs around here.

My toe suddenly caught something solid and my body pitched forward. I squealed as I raised my arms to shield my face, but the impact never came. Warm arms caught me around my waist and lifted me back to my feet. The feeling of his arms wrapped around me made me blush. Then Natsu lit one of his hands on fire and took my chin in his other hand.

I stopped breathing for a moment, my face felt really hot and it wasn't from the fire in his hand. _He's so close. Is he going to kiss me? What do I do? Should I let him? Do I want him to?_

Then the pressure on my chin turned my face to the right, then to the left. "You okay, Luce? Did I catch you in time?" Natsu asked.

I felt myself deflate. _Of course he wasn't going to kiss me. He sees me as nothing but a partner. I might as well be a guy when it comes to him._ Feeling embarrassed, I kept my face turned left and nodded.

It was because my head was turned that I saw it. The light from Natsu's fire reflected off of something. It wasn't the type of glint you would see from the eyes of an animal, but off of something metal. A sudden chill raced up my spine, instinct took over and I jumped onto Natsu and knocked him to the ground. As we fell I felt multiple points of pain from my left side and I screamed.

When we hit the ground I attempted to lift myself off of Natsu and failed, the left side of my body had gone numb and I could feel my right side starting to get heavy as well.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" I heard Natsu ask, his voice was in a panic and I couldn't even lift my head to look at his face.

"Came from left… hurry!" I told him before my face started going numb.

"Happy, watch Lucy!"

"Aye, sir!"

I felt Natsu lift my body and move out from beneath me. He quickly set me down and ran after the attacker. My right side was starting to feel the effects as I struggled to grip my keys. For a second, I felt them in my hand before I lost feeling there too.

"Open… Gate of the… Maiden… Virgo!" I felt my magic surge through my body. I was relieved that the drug hadn't affected my magic. The gate opened and a pretty girl with pink hair and wearing a maid outfit appeared in front of me.

"What happened, Princess? You have needles sticking out of your back," Virgo said in her usual, even voice.

"Take them… out…" It was getting harder to talk.

"Yes, Princess. Then would you like to punish me?" She asked as I saw her pulling something out of my back. I couldn't feel anything in that part of my body anymore.

"No… fine Nafu… puniff purfom… ho athak…" My face was now completely numb.

"I understand, you wish me to find master Natsu and help him punish the person who attacked you." Virgo said as I saw her place a pile of needles beside my face. I grunted, hoping it sounded like a 'yes.' "I will return in a moment," Virgo said before I heard her run off. I just hoped no one else was out there. Happy could fly me to safety if he had to but he wasn't a fighter. Now that I couldn't talk I wouldn't be able to summon any more of my celestial spirits.

**Natsu POV**

I heard Lucy stumble and turned to see her falling. I barely got a hold of her in time but I wasn't sure if her head had hit before I caught her. Setting her back on her feet, I ignited my one hand and took her chin in my other. "You okay, Luce? Did I catch you in time?" I asked her as I turned her face one way then another to see if she was hurt.

That's when I saw how red in the face she was. _Is she… blushing?_ I had to be seeing things. She doesn't usually blush at me like that. Then I realized how close I was to her and that her chin was still caught between my fingers. If I had seen someone like Alzack and Bisca like this, I would have thought that they were going to make-out.

Suddenly, Lucy tackled me and screamed. I put out the fire in my hand and wrapped my arms around her waist, shielding her while taking the impact of the fall. Looking over her shoulder, I saw multiple long needles sticking out of her left shoulder and upper back.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" I felt flames inside me rising. Someone had attacked us and Lucy had gotten hurt.

"Came from left…hurry!" I heard he say. Her voice seemed wrong, like she was in pain.

"Happy! Watch Lucy," I ordered as I lifted her off of me and set her down.

"Aye, sir," Happy said.

Then I was running, I had caught a scent from the needles in Lucy's back. It was the scent of a wizard and a drug. It took a couple deep breaths as I ran. "There you are." Growling, I put on an extra burst of speed. That bastard may have had a lead on me, but I would catch him soon and beat to a pulp for hurting Lucy.

I felt a tingle on my skin and immediately dodged to the left. A volley of needles flew past my right ear, barely missing me.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

I heard someone curse and stumble. The smell of burnt hair and cloth added to the mix of scents. _You can't hide from me, you bastard!_

I could hear him, my prey, more clearly now. He was ahead of me by about 30 meters and closing. There was another tingle and I dove low to avoid another volley of needles. Then I pushed off the ground and jumped high to avoid the third attack.

Ten meters and closing.

I saw him, a thin man with pale skin and brown hair. I could smell the fear coming off of him. He spun and threw another volley of needles. I jumped right and realized my mistake too late. His other hand had hidden more needles and I would not have time to dodge them.

But the needles never hit me. A blur of black and pink pushed me aside and into a tree. I groaned as I fell to the ground. _I might have avoided being poisoned, but that hurt!_ Shaking my head, I looked up and saw one of Lucy's spirits.

"Virgo!"

"I've been sent to help you punish the one who harmed Princess," she said. Though her voice was even, the look in her eyes said that she wanted to cause that wizard some pain for hurting Lucy.

Standing up, I cracked my knuckles as I stared down the wizard. The idiot hadn't taken the opportunity to run when he had the chance. "You're going to pay for hurting Lucy."

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading and following my story! This story is like my baby so please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

*** I had this dream that I owned Fairy Tail and all of its characters, but then I woke up crying when I realized that I don't. T-T**

**Natsu POV**

The wizard reached for his bag of needles. I wasn't sure what type of potion or poison was on those needles, but they had to be potent to have dropped Lucy so quickly. I was lucky as hell that I hadn't been hit by them. I just had to keep that going and take that ass down.

Growling I took a step toward him, he flinched and pulled his needles. He never had a chance to throw them this time. The idiot was too focused on me to realize that Virgo had disappeared from sight. The ground suddenly collapsed under his feet and he was sent into a deep pit. I rushed in before he realized what happened and ignited my fists. He looked up and the panic I saw on his face was obvious.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" My fist connected with soft flesh and the wizard flew into a wall of dirt. He yelled out in pain and I saw blood come out of his mouth. I didn't stop.

He had hurt Lucy! My partner! My best friend! I wasn't going to stop until my hands bled.

"Master Natsu," I heard Virgo's voice but it didn't fully register. Then she was in front of me. "Master Natsu, may I suggest that we restrain the wizard so we may go to check on Princess? I promise to punish him as we return to her."

The fire in my hands died as what she said got through to me. _Lucy, I left her alone with Happy!_

"Can you carry him, Virgo? I need to get back to Lucy."

I saw her nod then I turned and sprinted back to Lucy and Happy. Luckily, I knew their scent so well it was easy to trace my way back to them. I didn't even know how badly she was hurt. But… what I saw when I returned… I busted up laughing!

Lucy was lying on the ground and Happy was jumping up and down on her butt! "Natsu! The pointy things made Lucy's body go numb," Happy said with an evil glint in his eyes. "I don't think she's hurt, but she can't move!"

I couldn't keep myself from smiling. _This is too good to be true!_ It was like that time at the Tower of Heaven when Erza couldn't move. _Time to tickle!_

Jumping at her, I pulled off her boot and started tickling her foot because I knew her feet were really ticklish. But she didn't laugh or even smile, her face was totally blank. "I thought you said she wasn't hurt!" I said, looking at Happy.

"I said her body is numb, she can't feel anything right now," Happy corrected.

That made me worried again. Lucy couldn't move or feel anything… _How much has that affected her body?_ I put my hand in front of her mouth and nose; I relaxed a little when I felt her breath against my skin. But was it affecting her heart? I pressed my ear to her chest and felt a lot of relief when I heard her heartbeat, nice and strong. But if she had been alone, if someone was stuck like this for a long time, it would drive anyone crazy.

"Is Princess okay?"

Looking behind me, I saw Virgo drop the wizard to the ground like a giant bag of rice. His arms and legs were securely tied and his mouth was gagged.

"She'll be okay when we get back to town," I told her.

"I need to return to the celestial world. Please take care of Princess." I nodded and she disappeared in a cloud of golden dust.

"Happy, carry Lucy while I carry the wizard."

"Aye, sir."

I glared down at the hog-tied man. I'll give him credit; he had enough sense to be scared. "You hurt Lucy and I would like nothing more than to burn you to ash. So don't give me a reason to take you out, because if I start, I won't hold back."

Happy swooped down and picked Lucy up by the back of her shirt. "Grrr… she's so heavy! I think Lucy's getting fatter."

Looking at her face, I was disappointed to see that her expression hadn't changed, but I saw the angry glint in her eyes. I sighed in relief. Lucy may not be able to move, but she was still Lucy.

I grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt and the four of us started out journey back to Kunugi.

**Normal POV**

It turned out that the wizard Natsu and Lucy had caught had been on the run from the Magic Council for months for stealing a forbidden spell from their archives. In an attempt to escape, he had taken up residence in the forest and attacked anyone he thought might have seen him or were hunting him. There had also been a reward of 300,000 jewels for his capture. Natsu hadn't wanted to accept it, but the representative of the Magic Council had been smart enough to talk circles around the dragon slayer and force him to take the reward. Although Lucy couldn't say anything, she inwardly cheered at the idea of receiving the extra money.

The doctors did a thorough examination of Lucy as soon as got to the hospital. They said that she wasn't seriously hurt and the effects of the numbing agent should be temporary. Natsu hoped so.

They decided to stay the night at a hotel in Kunugi after they left the hospital. There had only been one room available with a single bed. He didn't mind it, but he knew Lucy would protest… if she could protest, that is. Natsu had looked at the blonde he carried in his arms and gave her a toothy grin. "You don't have a problem sharing a bed with me, do you?" Lucy was still suffering from effects of the drug and was unable to say anything, but her face turned bright red.

Since she had been injured, Natsu was doing his best to behave himself but it wasn't easy. Even as he carried her to their room, it was proving to be a challenge. Images of her naked in her apartment kept running through his head. And since he was carrying her in his arms… _Don't think about it. Don't touch her anywhere you shouldn't. She's so cute when she blushes like that._

Though Lucy couldn't talk, she was still able to blink and hear and the two of them had come up with a dialog. Luckily, they had been able to avoid the more awkward situations since the nurses at the hospital had already cleaned her up and helped her go to the bathroom. In the end, they decided to let her sleep in the days clothes and hopefully she would be a bit more mobile in the morning.

He had laid her on the bed before turning out the lights and covering her up. Still trying to behave himself, he crawled into bed leaving a little space between them. Normally, he would hold her close but it didn't feel right to do that now since she couldn't move. A few minutes later, Natsu fell asleep.

Sometime during the night, Happy shook him awake in a panic. "Natsu, wake up! Something's wrong with Lucy. She's shaking!"

Jumping up, Natsu turned on the lamp and checked on Lucy. Her eyes were closed and she was visibly shaking. He was glad that her body was moving again but now he was worried that she was in pain. Reaching for her arm, he stopped when he touched her skin. She felt ice cold.

Letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, Natsu knew what to do. "She's okay, Happy. She just needs warming up." He turned the light off then pulled Lucy against his chest, wrapping his arm around her waist and felt Happy curl up on the other side of her. Soon, her shivers died down and she sighed.

Natsu buried his nose into the crook of her neck and breathed her in. Despite the harsh hospital soap that had been used, her strawberry and honey scent remained. That scent had come to mean comfort to him. It was one of the reasons he was always over at Lucy's apartment. For some reason, the scent calmed him like nothing else could. Without any thought of why or why not, he kissed the side of Lucy's neck. The taste of her wasn't soothing like her scent, but it made him feel good. Letting out a sigh, he fell back asleep.

**A/N: I was really in the mood to write and did this chapter in one afternoon! Hooray! I know this was sort of a short, but I will make up for it in the next chapter. Please R&R cause I love to hear from you!**


	4. Chapter 4

*** I wish I owned Fairy Tail, but I don't, so I'll just keep writing these!**

**Normal POV**

_I can do this. I can do this. There's nothing different from every other time I've carried her… How did I never notice how good her chest feels on my back before? I'm in trouble! What do I do?_ Natsu's thoughts were in chaos as he carried Lucy.

When they had woken up in the morning, they were relieved to discover that Lucy could talk and move a bit. Her arms and legs were still too weak for her to do anything under her own power but it was better than nothing. Natsu had decided to carry her back to the guild. She tried to convince him to take the train, but he remembered her promise. He would rather carry her the whole way back than get sick from riding transportation.

About an hour into the walk, Lucy had fallen asleep on his back and was now cuddling him more than holding him. For some reason, this was making Natsu blush. Of course, it didn't help that Happy was flying around their heads saying "You llliiiiikkee each other!" He wanted to chase after the exceed and make him stop, but didn't want to disturb Lucy either.

They were a little more than halfway back when they stopped for a rest. Happy had a couple of fish while Natsu cooked some meat over a fire. He waited until the meat was done before waking up Lucy. He wanted her to rest and would have let her sleep the whole way back, but she needed to eat and regain her strength.

Reluctantly, he shook her awake. "Luce, wake up. It's time to eat." Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him.

"Mmm, that smells really good," she said as she sat up and stretched. They didn't have any utensils so Natsu tore off a piece of meat and handed it to her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked before he started gobbling down his food.

"Better, my legs still feel a little weak and my brain is sort of fuzzy, but it's not as bad as before," Lucy told him as she started eating her food.

"If you want to try to walk, it might help you to heal faster. If you don't think you can, I can keep carrying you." It really wasn't a big deal for him to carry her. Despite his and Happy's jokes, she was pretty lite weight. _Even then, most of her weight seems to be centered on her big chest and her round butt._ The stray thought caught Natsu off guard and he felt his face heat and response. He heard Lucy giggle and looked at her.

"Why are you blushing, Natsu?" She asked him

Was it his imagination or did her voice seem to purr a bit with that question? Natsu gulped down his mouthful of food as he looked at her. He couldn't help but watch her as she ate, her tongue poking out every now and then to lick her lips. When her eyes met his, he looked away to concentrate on his food. _What is wrong with me? Ever since I saw her naked, it's like I've turned into a pervert… Well, maybe not a pervert, but I can't stop looking at her. And then I kissed her last night! Why did I do that?_

"Natsu."

Looking up, he had been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed she had moved. Lucy was now sitting next to him and was leaning toward him. _She's so close. _Natsu held his breath, knowing that if he breathed in her scent, he would probably do something he would regret later.

**Natsu POV**

"I was awake last night when you pulled me against you," Lucy told me.

_Wait, she was awake? That means that she… I… Crap!_

"I was really cold but I couldn't talk or move," she kept talking as I tried to keep my face neutral. "Then Happy noticed and woke you. I was so relieved when you warmed me up. Thank you."

I couldn't help but smile at her as I let out the breath I'd been holding. She was happy I had held her during the night, which was a load off my mind. Now I just had to wonder…

"Was I imagining things last night, or did you kiss me?"

_Crap! Crap! Crap! What do I do? I can't lie to her; she'd know I was lying!_ When Happy started yelling, I thought he was trying to distract her until I heard what he was saying.

"What? You kissed Lucy when she couldn't move! What's wrong with you, Natsu? I didn't think you were a pervert!"

Feeling my face heat up, my head dropped and I stared at the ground. This had to be what humiliation felt like. I wanted nothing more than to run away or erase that kiss. Since I couldn't go back in time, I went with option A and walked into the wooded area next to the road. I didn't go far, just far enough so that I didn't have to face Lucy.

I leaned against a tree, trying to figure out what to say to her. Lucy was my best friend, my partner, and I didn't want to put that in jeopardy. Now it looked like I screwed up big time. I should have known she would follow me into the woods to demand an answer. She was still a little weak so it took her a minute to catch up to me. I kept my eyes on the ground, afraid to look her in the face. _ What if she hates me now?_

I could see her boots as she stood directly in front of me. "Why did you kiss me, Natsu?"

Not ready to look her in the face, I shrugged. "I don't even know why, I just did." When she didn't say anything, I looked up at her face and was surprised by her expression. She seemed confused and a bit angry. Now I was worried about getting another "Luck kick."

"You know what I just realized," she said as she took a step closer to me. "You are so dense you don't know when you like a girl as more than a friend. Which means the girl will have to make a move." I was about to get insulted when Lucy grabbed my shoulder and pressed me back against the tree. Before I knew what was happening, Lucy was kissing me.

Feeling her soft lips pressed against mine shocked me for a second… but only for a second. Then my body took over and I was kissing her back. I grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to me. The kiss was sweet and but hungry, a hundred times better than the kiss I had stolen the night before. When I felt her lick my lower lip, I opened my mouth and we started fighting for dominance with our tongues. The kiss was amazing, _she_ was amazing! I tore my mouth away from hers to get some air and let my tongue trace a path down her throat. She must have liked it since I heard her sigh a little. Burying my hand in her hair, I pressed my nose into the crook of her neck to breathe in her scent.

My body went stiff.

Lucy didn't smell right. The smell of strawberries and honey had turned almost acidic to my nose. A person's scent didn't just change. It could be masked or become more intense, but I had never known a scent to change. This could only mean that something was seriously wrong with her.

Grabbing her shoulders, I pushed her away from me. She looked the same as always, but I knew that something had happened to her. "Lucy, what's wrong with you?"

In an instant her expression changed from hot and lusty to harsh and angry. "The only thing that's wrong with me is thinking that we could have some fun together. I should have known you would chicken out." Then a cruel smile spread across her face, it made me nervous. "Maybe I need to be a little rougher with you."

She pushed me against the tree with a surprising amount of strength before grabbing my throat and giving it a choking squeeze. "Now let's have some fun," her voice purred as she leaned forward and bit my neck hard. I was surprised that it actually hurt. I took advantage of the proximity and breathed in her scent. _Yes, something is definitely off and I have no clue what is going on with her._

The grip on my throat tightened and her nails dug painfully into my skin. Apparently, she had gained all her strength back and then some. Despite this, I knew I was stronger than Lucy and could have freed myself from her grasp, but I didn't want to hurt her. Instead of fighting her, I said "Lucy, why do you smell different?" I realized that had probably been the wrong thing to say when she revved back her fist and punched me in the face.

"A girl is making you with you and you're complaining about how I smell!" She was screaming at me as she punched me again. "You worthless lizard, how dare you push me away!" The third punch had my ears ringing a bit. Who knew Lucy was this strong?

When my head turned back to her, I saw her eyes. They were dull and unfocused, but what struck me most was the color. The chocolate brown was gone and the irises had turned black, seeming to bleed into the whites of her eyes.

A kick to the stomach had me doubled over as she released her hold on my throat. A kick to my head had me on the ground and dizzy. I remember the fight with Laxus during the battle of Fairy Tail, I had taken a lot of the hits to the head and it had left me feeling dizzy and unbalanced like this. Erza late explained that I had suffered a concussion since I had never had one before. It was the same feeling now.

_She's so strong. Where did all this power come from?_

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

I looked up as the man-bull with the giant axe appeared beside Lucy. He already had hearts in his eyes as he looked at her. "Miss Lucy, you look so pretty today. How about a smooooch?"

She turned a harsh glare to him and yelled, "Shut up, slave! I didn't bring you here to talk!"

I saw his face drop and a chill went down my spine. Taurus was probably the most perverted of Lucy's spirits but she had never spoken to him like that before. Now I was getting really worried.

Lucy looked down at me and pointed. "Kill him."

**A/N: Dun-dun-dah! I hope you liked this chapter, it was one of my favorites to write. I know its a bit of a cliff hanger, but don't worry. Will be posting the next chapter soon. Don't forget to review, I'd love to hear from you!**


	5. Chapter 5

*** I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters… damn it.**

**Normal POV**

"Kill him."

Happy heard Lucy as she pointed at Natsu and wanted to cry. Something was making Lucy really scary and he didn't know what to do.

Natsu saw Happy hiding up in a tree and signaled for him to say hidden. He didn't know what he was going to do yet, but he was sure he could figure out a way to save himself, protect Happy, and keep Lucy from killing them without seriously hurting her. _Might be tricky, but it should be easy._

Taurus was conflicted. He could tell that something was wrong with Miss Lucy and he didn't want to kill her comrade, but he couldn't go against her orders. Pulling his axe from his back, he advanced on Natsu and hoped that the fire wizard would fight him off.

The axe swung down at him, Natsu was able to avoid the blow but stumbled slightly as his head spun. Taurus swung at him again and he jumped into the air kicking the bull in the back of the head. Now he was close to Lucy.

She kicked out, just barely missing his knee cap and leaving her off balance. Seeing an opportunity, Natsu lunged forward and ripped the pouch holding her keys off of her belt. Lucy screamed at him and made a grab to get her keys back, but he was faster.

"Happy!" He threw the pouch into the air as high as he could. Without missing a beat, the exceed swooped out of the tree and snatched it to keep the keys away from Lucy.

"Give those back, you flying rat," she yelled loud enough that his ears hurt. Happy stayed high in the air out of Lucy's reach. He looked absolutely terrified. She screamed again and lunged at Natsu, forcing him to jump over her head. He realized a moment too late that he had moved too close to Taurus and barely evaded that attack. The fast turn caused his head to spin and he stumbled into another tree. He felt like he was going to be sick. Instinct kicked in and he dropped to the ground just as Taurus cut the tree in half with one swing.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

The punch caught Taurus under the chin and sent him flying back and landing hard. "Natsu, help Miss Lucy," he said as he faded back to the celestial world.

Natsu's head was spinning even worse after using his fire. He grabbed the chopped tree for support as he threw up the contents of his stomach. "Ugh… this is almost as bad as transportation," he moaned.

Lucy was furious as she watched Taurus disappear. Without her keys she couldn't summon another slave to kill Natsu, which meant she would have to do it herself. A cruel smile stretched across her lips. "That might not be so bad," she said as grabbed the back of his single-sleeve jacket and threw him to the ground. A little thrill went through her when she heard him hiss in pain from the impact. Walking over to where he was laying, she kicked him in the ribs as hard as she could.

She was about to kick him again when Natsu swept her legs out from under her and sent her to the ground. He jumped on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head and putting his weight on her legs to keep her from attacking. Lucy thrashed and yelled beneath him as she struggled to get free. Watching her act like this almost made him sick again, he almost didn't recognize her.

"Lucy, wake up!" Natsu yelled as he struggled to keep her pinned. "This isn't you. You've been poisoned or put under a spell, you have to fight it. Please, Lucy!"

**Lucy POV**

It was like waking from a nightmare. My heart was racing, my body was sweating, and I was struggling to breathe. Natsu was sitting on top of me with my wrists pinned to the ground. He was watching me with such intensity that it scared me.

Then I remembered what I had done. It hadn't been a bad dream. I had attacked Natsu, called Taurus a slave and ordered him to kill my best friend!

The tears came fast as I started crying. "Oh no! Natsu, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! What have I done?"

He released my wrists and wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed into his chest. I don't know how long we sat there like that, but it was long enough that I felt the madness creeping back to take me over again. I pushed him away. "It's coming back!"

Natsu took my face between his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye. "Fight it, Luce. I know you can beat it!"

My body was shaking with effort to control what was happening in my head. Part of me was struggling not to laugh in his face and choke the life out of him just to prove him wrong. The other part of me was fighting tooth and nail to keep myself from hurting him.

"I can't," I cried. "It's not like a charm. I think the poison on those needles does more than immobilize people." I felt a sharp pain shoot through my skull and almost lost control. I dug my fingernails into my palm to keep my focus. This was too important to loose myself yet. "Listen to me, Natsu. You need to keep my keys away from me. Promise me that you won't let me hurt anyone."

"I promise," he said without hesitation.

"Not even you, understand?"

He nodded.

The pain in my skull increased, and I couldn't hold back my scream this time. Clutching my head, I collapsed to the ground. "Knock me out! Please! It hurts!"

There was a solid hit to the side of my neck and I felt myself falling into darkness. Hopefully, I would come out of it soon.

**Natsu POV**

I couldn't believe that I had hit Lucy, even though she'd begged me to. The only reason I did it is because she was in pain, it the smell of blood from her hands had sent me over the edge. _How much pain were you in that you would do that to yourself?_ Scooping her up into my arms, I held her as I tried to figure out what to do next.

"Natsu, is Lucy going to be okay?"

I looked over to Happy as he landed next to me and his wings disappeared. His eyes were full of tears and Lucy's keys were held between his paws.

"I don't know, little buddy." I told him. I had to think, what did Lucy say? It was something about needles… maybe… "Happy, fly back to Kunugi and see if they still have any of those needles that dark wizard used on Lucy. Get one and fly to Fairy Tail as fast as you can. Maybe Gramps can figure out a cure for this once we know what it is."

"What about Lucy?"

"I'll carry her the rest of the way back to the guild. Maybe I can get her there before she wakes up again," I told him as I shifted Lucy in my arms so that I would be able to pick her up. _At least I hope I can get her there before she wakes up._

As if reading my mind, he asked me, "What if she wakes up before you get to the guild?"

Looking at him, I could tell he was really worried. Not just for Lucy's well-being, but for me too. I understood why. I would do everything I could to protect her but I didn't think that I would be able to fight her seriously. I would pulverize anyone who would dare to hurt her and it almost made me sick again to think that _I_ had hit her. If she woke up and attacked me like she had before… "I promised her that I wouldn't let her hurt anyone, not even me. I won't break that promise."

Happy held up the pouch holding Lucy's keys. "What should I do with these?"

I took them from him and stuffed them in my pocket. "I'll give them back to her when she's our Lucy again." With her still in my arms, I stood and almost fell over again. _ Crap, my head is still spinning and I feel like I'm going to be sick again. This feels even worse than the concussion Laxus gave me._

"Natsu! Are you okay? How bad did Lucy hurt you?" He asked me, his voice full of worry.

"I'm okay," I told him between gritted teeth. "Get back to Kunugi and get the needles. I'll see you at the guild. And when this is all over and Lucy's all better, we'll make her fix up a big meal with a lot of fish."

"Aye, sir." Wings appeared from Happy's back and he floated into the air. "Be careful, Natsu." Then he was flying away.

I looked down at the sleeping girl in my. Her face was peaceful at the moment, so I hoped that meant she wasn't in pain. I kissed her forehead before shifting her body so I would be carrying her piggyback again. I would have rather held her in my arms so I could watch her face for signs of her waking up, but I would be able to move faster while carrying her on my back.

I made my way out of the woods and back out to the road. As soon as I got there, I was running. "Don't worry, Luce. I'll keep my promise. I'll do everything I can to keep you from hurting anyone, including me. And I promise to do everything I can to get you back."

**A/N: This chapter was the hardest to write so far, mostly because of how I tried to convey what Lucy was going through. I can see it all in my head but I don't think it came across completely on paper. I'm still happy with the way it turned out though. And I've got to tell you, the next chapter is probably my favorite!**


	6. Chapter 6

*** If I ever win the lottery, I may try to but Fairy Tail because I want to own it.**

**Normal POV**

It was a normal day at the Fairy Tail guild, loud and overly rambunctious. Cana was working on her fourth barrel of alcohol. Gray was trying to keep Juvia from flooding the guild hall because she saw a girl from town flirting with him. Elfman was talking to Mirajane and Lisanna about taking a mission together as a family. Levy was reading a book in the corner with Gajeel sitting close by munching on some scrap iron. Erza was probably the calmest as she sat at the bar eating her strawberry cheesecake.

The normal banter was interrupted by Natsu licking the doors open. He was sweating badly and looked about ready to collapse. Lucy was in slung across his back and she wasn't moving. "Where's Wendy? Lucy needs help!"

Erza jumped from her seat and rushed to help Natsu lay the girl out on a table top. Doing a quick assessment, she saw that the girl was unconscious but didn't look to be injured. Natsu, on the other hand, looked dead on his feet. His face was bruised, there were shallow cuts on his neck, and he was hunched in a way that showed he was trying not to put pressure on the right side of his torso.

"What happened to you?" She asked him, worried that the guide may come under attack. Whatever it was, they had to be ready.

Natsu sat down before his legs gave out. He had run the entire way back to the guild. Lucy hadn't woken up but he was pretty sure that she would soon. "It was Lucy. She went crazy and attacked me."

He wasn't sure what reaction he was expecting, but total doubt was not it.

"Yeah, right."

"You probably did something to piss her off."

"What did you do to her?"

"Geez, Natsu. You really are an idiot."

"Really, she did," he insisted as he looked to Erza. "She started hitting me and then she tried to kill me! She came out of it for a minute but then she had me knock her out…"

Gray yanked him off of his seat by his scarf, the fast action made his head spin. "You hit your own partner? What's wrong with you?" Gray punched him and sent him sprawling on the floor.

His head hurt so much that he didn't think he could get up. "She told me to do it!" Natsu whined.

Behind them, a small moan caught Erza's attention. Lucy was starting to stir on the table top. The guild tried to move closer, but Erza waved them back just in case Natsu was telling the truth. She leaned closer to the prone girl, who was rubbing her eyes with both hands. "Lucy, are you okay?"

The blond wizard opened her eyes… and punched Erza in the face hard enough that she sent the red head flying back. Every jaw in the guild fell to the floor.

"Lucy punched Erza!"

"Something's wrong with her!"

Lucy slide off the table, glaring at everyone in the room from under her bangs. No one approached her. She turned and started walking for the guild doors.

Gray shook off his initial shock and stepped away from Natsu. He grabbed her arms to stop her. "What are you…?" His words trailed off as he looked into his friends eyes in horror. They had turned completely black and left him with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. If that wasn't enough, she gave him a truly sinister grin before kicking him between the legs as hard as she could. Every man in the guild groaned as Gray collapsed into a fetal position on the floor.

"Gray-sama!"

Juvia flowed between Lucy and Gray, forcing the blonde a couple meters away from the ice wizard. Her eyes looked positively murderous. "You shall not harm Juvia's beloved. Water Lock!"

An orb of water appeared around Lucy. She struggled for a moment before going still. Then in a flash of blue and gold light, a shower of water fell to the floor and Lucy landed on her feet with her celestial whip in her hand. Juvia couldn't help but back closer to Gray, the look on Lucy's face was terrifying.

"Nice try, water bitch. Now it's my turn." Lucy swung her whip at Juvia, the bluenette expected the whip to pass through her, but it began snaking around her body instead until it wrapped around her like a cocoon. Panicking, the girl struggled to escape but couldn't get past. Lucy's grin turned sadistic as she shifted her grip on her whip. "Squeeze!"

The guild watched in horror as the whip constricted tightly around the water woman. Inside the cocoon, Juvia was screaming.

"Juvia!" Gray yelled. He watched as water leaked out from between the coils of the whip and onto the floor. It puddled and formed into Juvia's body. The woman coughed up a mouth full of blood and went unconscious.

"Lu-chan, stop!" Lucy turned as Levy ran toward her. "We're your friends! We're not… Kyaa!" Levy was cut off when the blonde backhanded her across the face. The blow sent her rolling across the floor, only to stop when she hit the legs of a table. She stood quickly when she saw Lucy walking toward her, glaring. "Solid Script Net!"

The word formed a giant net and was sent flying toward Lucy. The blonde lashed out with her whip, which took hold of one of the rafters and lifted her out of the way. The net hit Cana, Macao and Wakaba, knocking them to the floor and trapping them. Shocked that her spell had missed, Levy was unprepared as Lucy swung down and kicked her in the face with both feet. She screamed as she flew back but avoided hitting the wall because Gajeel caught her.

The iron dragon slayer growled at the blonde as he swung Levy behind him to protect her. "You're asking for this, bunny girl." Gajeel's arm extended into an iron club, shooting straight for Lucy's torso. He expected her to dodge or scream; he hadn't expected her to catch it in her hands. The blow didn't seem to hurt her in the least. An uneasy feeling settled in his gut. _This won't end well._

Lucy laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" Still gripping his club arm, she used her unexpected strength to spin in a circle and Gajeel found himself being swung around the room and taking down any wizard still standing.

He tried retracting his arm, thinking that bunny girl would release him, but she kept her grip which effectively brought him in front of her. Giving a laugh that made even his skin crawl; she raised her left fist and punched the elbow of his trapped arm. He howled in pain as his arm snapped.

She laughed even harder. "Wow, so the iron lizard can feel pain."

"Requip!"

Without looking, Lucy swung her whip behind her and ensnared Erza. When she turned around, the woman's hands and feet were hog tied behind her back and a length of the whip was wrapped around her throat. She struggled against the bindings, but couldn't get free. The red head was seriously regretting not listening to Natsu when he had said something was wrong with Lucy. The amount of pain and damage that had occurred in just a few minutes was unbelievable, and she only had herself to blame for not heeding his warning.

"The great Titania Erza Scarlet," Lucy said as she smiled down at her. There were very few times when Erza would admit to being scared. Now, as she looked up into her friend's pure black eyes, eyes that held none of the kindness or innocence she had come to expect. She was scared. There didn't seem to be anything left of the friend she knew. "Let's see if I can make you fit your name a little better."

Erza felt the whip tighten around her throat and she struggled to breathe. She fought against her restraints but it became more difficult as her vision started to cloud.

"You're supposed to turn red, not blue," Lucy complained as she licked her lips. "Maybe I just need to tighten it a bit more…"

"NO!"

**Natsu POV**

My head was spinning from gray's punch, but I still saw everything that was happening. I was even a little impressed when Lucy took out Erza and Gray, though I wouldn't have wished the kind of hit the ice princess took on any man. When I saw the exchange between Juvia and Lucy, I got really worried. There had to of been some serious damage done in that attack and I knew that Luce would beat herself up for that one for a long time when she was back to normal. I had to stop her.

I was forcing myself to my feet when I saw her catch Gajeel's club arm like it was nothing. I remember taking one of those so I knew how much strength that took. _How did she get so strong?_

When she swung him around, I was barely able to duck in time. The screams I heard from around the guild told me that others were not so lucky. Then I heard Gajeel scream and looked up in surprise. His left arm was bent the wrong way at his elbow. I couldn't say why, but seeing that almost made me sick.

"Requip!"

I saw Erza change into her Black Wing Armor, but Lucy was somehow faster. Her whip tied Erza's hands and feet behind her back and another part wrapped around her throat.

"The great Titania Erza Scarlet. Let's see if I can make you fit your name a little better."

Hearing my friend gasp, I forced myself to my feet. I had to stop Lucy before she killed Erza. I had to keep my promise!

"You're supposed to turn red, not blue. Maybe I just need to tighten it a bit more…"

"NO!" I yelled as I wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened but I didn't let go. With my mouth next to her ear, I kept my voice as quiet and even as I could. "Luce, you need to stop," I said desperately. "I know you're still in there somewhere and I know you don't want to hurt anyone. You have to fight it. You're going to kill Erza. You do that and I won't be able to challenge her again. I'm the one that's supposed to defeat her. Luce, please wake up!"

I wasn't sure if she'd heard me or not until I heard her gasp. Lucy dropped her whip which instantly release Erza, who took some much needed breathes.

"Oh, no. No!" Lucy cried as her head whipped left and right. She turned in my arms and gripped my shirt in her hands. Her eyes were brown again and full of tears. "I couldn't stop myself," she sobbed.

"I know. It's not your fault, it's the poison," I told her.

Her eyes suddenly squeezed shut and she screamed in pain. I flinched as her nails tore through my shirt and dug into my skin. Knowing that Lucy was in pain and I couldn't stop it left me feeling helpless. All I could do was hold her.

"Knock me out! Someone knock me out, please!" She yelled as tears fell down her cheeks. Her eyes opened and I could see the black starting to overtake the brown again.

"Card Magic, Sleep!"

A tarot card flew and stuck itself to Lucy's forehead. Her eyes quickly drooped and I caught her as her body went slack. Hugging her to my chest, I lowered her to the floor. I looked around the guild and took in all the damage that had been caused in less than five minutes. Erza was forcing herself to her feet; her throat had a red welt that was quickly turning into a bruise. Gray was holding an unconscious Juvia in his arms, blood was dripping from the water woman's mouth. Cana, Macao and Wakaba were finally free of the net. Levy's face was becoming swollen and bruised as she knelt beside Gajeel. The metal head was snarling at everyone but Levy as he cradled his injured arm to his chest.

I couldn't believe that Luce had done all this. I just knew she was going to beat herself up about it later. What's worse is that I had broken my promise to her, but I would do everything I could to keep it from happening again.

"Okay, Natsu." I looked up to see Erza standing over me and I sweat-dropped. She looked pissed but worried. "From the top, what happened to Lucy?"

**A/N: Hooray! This was definitely my favorite chapter to write so far. I liked making Lucy crazy-strong so no one could defeat her. Plus, I had wanted to use the celestial whip cocoon move since she first got it in the series. Some Gruvia fluff is coming up plus a nice little twist. so keep reading and reviewing, I love hearing from you!**


	7. Chapter 7

*** When I take over the world, I shall own Fairy Tail and all its characters! Mwa-ha-ha!**

**Gray POV**

As I lifted Juvia in my arms and carried her to the infirmary, I still couldn't believe that Lucy had done all of this. She had hurt her friends, she had seriously hurt Juvia, and she'd even tried to kill Erza! Not to mention doing some damage to me, the pain from just walking was enough to make me question whether or not I'd be able to have kids in the future.

I listened to Natsu explain everything to Erza as they followed me to the infirmary. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but we had been wrong and flame-brain had been right. If we had listened to him, we might have been able to keep Lucy from hurting anyone. It was even a little scary to think of what might have happened if he hadn't gotten her to snap out of it for that short time.

Laying Juvia down on a cot, I sat down next to her, reluctant to leave. I had never heard her scream like that before and I was worried about how badly she had gotten hurt. The fact that she'd coughed up blood had me on edge. Even now, I was hearing a wet sound in her breathing. Other people might have said it was simply because she was a water wizard, but with how much she liked to be around me, I knew the wet sound wasn't normal.

Natsu laid Lucy down on the next cot then stumbled when he tried to stand. Erza had to steady him to keep from face planting in the unconscious girl's stomach. That's when I noticed how beat up he really was and it looked like he was having trouble staying focused. From what he had said, he had taken a bunch of hits from Lucy before knocking her out the first time. Since one of those hits had the strength to break Gajeel's arm…

"How bad did she beat you up?" I asked him, doing my best not to sound like I was mocking him. He didn't insult me or even glare at me; it was like he was concentrating on staying conscious. That told me more than words. It made sense now why he had dropped when I had only punched him once.

Gajeel and Levy came into the infirmary next. He was grumbling that he was fine, but the sight of his arm bent the wrong way made me cringe. That had to get set and healed right away before there was any permanent damage. Levy's face was swelling fast and turning different colors. I still couldn't believe that Lucy had attacked her. If Gajeel hadn't stepped in, she might have gotten hurt as bad as Juvia.

When the iron dragon slayer looked past me to Lucy, he growled. I couldn't blame him for being angry since I was mad too, but the look in his eyes was that of a man who wanted to cause some damage of his own. I was ready to jump between him and Lucy in case he attacked, but then he froze. I couldn't figure out why until I saw his nostrils twitch as he took a deep breath.

"What's up with bunny girl's scent? It's burning my nose," Gajeel growled as he plugged his nose with his hand.

"I think it's the poison from the needles," Natsu said as he sat on Lucy's cot. "And it's getting worse; we need to get the poison out before she wakes up again. I can't let her hurt anyone else, I promised her."

Just then, Wendy burst through the infirmary door with Carla flying close behind her. The sky dragon slayer looked worried for a moment as she looked at everyone and then got serious. "Who's injured the most?"

"Juvia, she needs healed now," I said without hesitation.

"No, Lucy needs healed first before the poison makes her even worse."

I turned and glared at the pyromaniac. "Lucy can wait five minutes; we don't know what kind of damage was done to Juvia."

The bluenette ignored both wizards and smelled the air instead. I saw her grimace, probably from Lucy's scent, but then her eyes snapped to Juvia. "Juvia's first, she's dying!"

I can't remember the last time I felt myself go cold, but hearing Wendy say that Juvia was dying right next to me… I gripped her hand between both of mine and held on for her life. Wendy's magic created a warm aura that smelled like a fresh breeze as she started healing her. My mind raced back and forth with thoughts of Juvia actually dying and I felt a debilitating ache in my chest. I would miss her! Her presence, her smile, her voice calling out "Gray-sama." I leaned my head down close to her ear. "I'm right here, Juvia. I'm not going to leave you so you better mot leave me."

Time slowed down as Wendy healed Juvia. It was probably no more than a couple minutes but it felt like an eternity. When she finally sat back to rest, my eyes locked on hers. I know I was tense, probably made it worse on myself because I had been holding my breath without even realizing it, but I was actually felt scared by what she would say.

"She's going to be okay now, but she'll be unconscious for a while. And when she wakes up, it will take a few days for her to fully recover." Wendy said as she sat back in her chair. The young dragon slayer already looked exhausted.

"How bad was she?" I probably shouldn't have asked given that she had already said that Juvia had been dying, but a part of me had to know.

"Bad enough, but I don't understand her injuries. Her body is made of water, it shouldn't…" she shook her head. "If it was anyone else, I would say that most of her bones had been broken, but she'll be okay now."

"Lucy next," I heard Natsu say behind me.

"No, you're next, Natsu. You're almost as bad as Juvia was," Wendy said in a firm voice as she walked over and started healing him.

"To what degree are Natsu's injuries?" Erza asked.

Wendy didn't answer right off as she concentrated on healing. After another minute, I saw some of the tension in his face disappear and Wendy sat back to take a break as she looked at Natsu in amazement. "How were you even conscious?" She asked.

"Was I that bad?"

The girl looked surprised. "Natsu, you had four broken ribs, you were slowly bleeding internally, and there were multiple cracks in your skull plus a serious concussion. If you'd have gone to sleep, I don't think you would have woken up. I don't know if that's the worst I've ever seen you injured, but it's in the top five."

Now I was surprised. Lucy had given him all those injuries and he'd still been able to carry her back to the guild? Then he had taken another hit from me and saved the guild from being destroyed by Lucy. Then he had ignored his own health and pushed for Lucy to be taken care of before him… I felt like a wimp, it had only taken one blow to take me down, even if it had been a low blow.

Turning her attention to Lucy, I saw Wendy wrinkle her nose again. "You said it's a poison?"

"I think so," Natsu told her as she started healing Lucy. "She got hit by some needles when we got attacked by the dark mage. She saw him before I did and knocked me out of the way. It made her entire body go numb for about twelve hours. She seemed fine for a while but then she started acting weirder than usual and attacked me. I snapped her out of it for a minute and she said that there must have been more than a numbing agent on the needles."

I shuddered to think what might have happened if Natsu had been the one who got poisoned and went crazy. Instead of a few injuries at the guild, everyone and everything between here and Kunugi would have been burned to ash. All things considered, Lucy had probably saved a lot of lives. A look at Erza confirmed that she was thinking the same thing.

Suddenly, Wendy gasped and pulled her hands away from Lucy.

"Why'd you stop? You've got to heal her," Natsu complained.

"I can't." I was going to question her too until I saw her face. The girl looked terrified.

"What do you mean you can't?" He yelled. I could feel the temperature in the room rise. Erza and I quickly grabbed his arms to keep him under control. His body heat was burning my skin wherever we made contact; since I'd stripped off my shirt at some point, it was more than I liked. "This is Lucy! She didn't mean to hurt anyone, she wasn't in control…"

"I mean I can't hear her without _killing_ her!"

No one dared to breathe as her words echoed through the room. Wendy had tears in her eyes; she looked like she was going to break down sobbing any second. We must have heard her wrong. Since I'd known Wendy, there wasn't a single injury or poison she hadn't been able to heal. For her to say that so matter-of-factually was a shock.

Erza was the first person to break the silence. "What's going on, Wendy?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

The girl's eyes locked on Lucy as tears flowed down her cheeks. "I've never seen anything like it before. The poison didn't just affect her physical mind and body, but her magic too. The poison fused to her magic in way so that if I heal her, it will essentially rip Lucy's magic out of her body along with the poison. That'll kill her. And if by some miracle she doesn't die from that, she won't be a wizard anymore."

**A/N: Scary twist! Sorry if there are more grammar mistakes than usual in this chapter, I've been working on it for most of the day and it's now 2:30 in the morning. Probably should have stopped, but I was on a roll. Oh well, hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

*** It is a dream of mine to own Fairy Tail and its characters one day, but that may be a while.**

**Normal POV**

_Three Days Later_

"Cana, get up! Lucy's waking up again!" Natsu said as he shook the card wizard awake.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She grumbled as she pulled the sleep card from her deck and pressed it to Lucy's forehead. "Sleep." The blonde struggled against the magic but soon went back to sleep. Cana lay back on her own cot, totally exhausted. She'd been using her magic solely to keep Lucy asleep and it was becoming more and more difficult as she was building up a resistance to the spell. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. My magic is getting really low."

Natsu slumped back in his chair. "If Fried were here, we could just keep her in one of his enchantments until we found a cure."

His head dropped into his hands. The past three days had been a series of blips of hope followed by harsh let downs. Happy had returned from Kunugi saying that the Magic Council had collected all the needles and the potion that had been used and had them destroyed because they posed too great of a danger. Master Makarov had returned from his visit to Lamia Scale but he had never come across such a poison before. Levy was pouring over the books in the library but hadn't come across any spell or poison that would result in violent outbursts and black eyes. Porlyusica had been their last hope, she had even come up with a couple of medicines, but they had ended with disaster since the only way to see if they worked was to let Lucy wake up. Both times had resulted in injuries of people in the guild. The woman was still working on a way to cure Lucy, but had hinted that they should prepare for the worst.

Makarov entered the infirmary to check on the three young wizards. It had been a grueling few days and it had taken a toll on the entire guild, he was no exception. He had hardly slept from worry. Of course, anyone who took one glance at Natsu would know that the boy was the one who was suffering the most. He was sure the boy had only moved from Lucy's side when forced to. Makarov doubted if Natsu had even slept or ate since returning to the guild.  
"How's Lucy?"

"She's waking up sooner. She was only asleep for an hour this time." Natsu told him, not taking his eyes off the sleeping blonde.

Master looked over at Cana; the wizard had fallen asleep again from exhaustion.

"There has to be something, Gramps. I can't just sit here and let Lucy go crazy or die."

"You might not have to." Makarov and Natsu turned as Loke appeared in the room in a cloud of gold dust. "Sorry it took so long," he said as he set the bag he was holding on the floor and knelt down by Lucy's cot. "How's she doing?"

"How do you think she's been doing?" Natsu growled at the lion spirit. "She's been in and out of consciousness for four days. She hurt her friends and Taurus but she has no control over her actions. That guilt is going to tear her up when she wakes up. And where the hell have you been?"

"You think I don't feel guilty about this?" Loke growled back. "It's my job to protect her! Not only did I fail her, I failed my brethren because Taurus got hurt!"

Makarov listened to them get louder and louder, he let them be for a moment since this was the most active he had seen the dragon slayer since he had returned. It was only when they started to wake up Cana that he decided to interject. "Enough! Both of you!"

Loke was the first to get his wits about him. "Sorry, master. I wanted to make sure I had all the angles covered before I came. After Taurus and Virgo told me what happened, I was pretty sure what was going on, but I wanted Crux to confirm it too."

Natsu perked up. "You know what's wrong with her? Does that mean you know how to cure her?"

He nodded. "The poison is called 'The Black Pit.' The signature of it is the victim's eyes turning completely black. It causes the body to advance in physical and magical strength at such a rate that the mind can't keep up. The wizard loses their mind within a day, destroying everything in their path until they are killed or until the body breaks down from too much magic. I first saw it over 600 years ago; the woman attacked my owner and killed him."

"I'm sorry, Loke." Makarov said, he could see the shame in the lion spirit's eyes from not being able to protect his owner.

He nodded. "Roluah was a good man, a good owner. I hated that I wasn't able to protect him, but he had ordered me to protect his family from the woman's attack. After he died and the woman's body gave out from all the magic inside her, I did a lot of research into the poison. At the time, there was no cure. Then, 450 years ago, a man got poisoned with the Black Pit. Libra's owner at the time was the man's best friend and a very smart woman. She figured out a way to save him with a combination spell and ritual that utilized celestial magic. It worked, but since then, there have been four other cases of the Black Pit and it only worked one other time."

"And the other three attempts?" Makarov asked.

Loke shook his head. "It'll be easier to explain when everyone is here. We need the strongest members of the guild as well as those she's closest to."

Makarov left the infirmary. Loke sat on the opposite side of Natsu to take Lucy's hand. Natsu sat back down to take Lucy's other hand. He really hoped that whatever the spirit had planned would work. He didn't think he could handle another let down.

A little while later, Makarov returned with Mirajane, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel and Wendy. "Alright, Loke. How do we save Lucy?"

"What we do is we take Lucy and the person she's closest to and bind them in a sealed circle. The rest of us keep filtering magic into the circle to keep the spell going. If the spell works, Lucy and the other person will wake up completely unharmed."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Loke was silent for a moment. He didn't want to think that this ritual would be anything but a success, but they had to know what could happen. "The risk is to the two in the circle. The second person's consciousness is joined with Lucy's and is supposed to help her fight her way out of the darkness. If they can't fight it back, one of two things will happen. Two of the three times it failed, both people in the circle died. The other time, they woke up but the madness had spread to the other person. We had to kill them before they destroyed everything."

Levy, Wendy and Mira started to cry. Juvia took Gray's hand when the ice wizard started to shake with anger. Makarov, Gajeel and Erza stared at him silently. Natsu was the only one who spoke.

"Lucy's strong; I know she can fight her way out. If she needs help, I'll do the spell with her." He yelled.

"I don't think that's smart," Loke told him. "If the spell fails and the madness takes you, I don't know if we would be able to stop both of you. I'd do the spell if I could; but as her spirit, my contract won't let me into a second contract with her. Levy would be the next best choice."

The bluenette nodded but looked unsure. "I want to help, but I don't know if I'm the best choice. When Lu-chan was attacking the guild, she acted like she didn't even know me."

"It has to be Natsu," Erza declared. "During Lucy's rampage, no one could stop her. She was attacking everyone as if she didn't know us. Natsu was the only one who was the only one who was able to talk her down. And he's done it more than once."

Loke's head whipped over to Erza. "She woke up? That's never happened before. Are you sure she wasn't faking it?"

Natsu shook his head. "No way. Both times she woke up, her eyes turned back to brown and she stopped attacking. She begged me to knock her out so she wouldn't hurt anyone."

"That's my Lucy," Loke said as he smiled down at her. Looking back at Natsu, he nodded. "I'm only agreeing to this because you were able to help Lucy break free before. You better bring her back to us." Walking over to Cana, Loke gave her shoulder a gentle shake to wake her up.

"Nngghh… don't tell me she's waking up again already…" she moaned as she reached for her card pouch.

"No, you can take a break. We're going to try something else," Loke told her.

"Thank God," she yawned as she got off the cot. "I need a drink."

"There's 10 barrels and five bottles of Sake waiting for you downstairs, you've earned them," Makarov told her. Cana grinned at him before walking out.

"I need everyone other than Master, Erza and Natsu to wait in the hallway," Loke told everyone. "We'll be changing out people every hour to power the spell. So eat and rest as much as you can but be ready to jump in here at a minutes notice."

After everyone had filed out, Loke got to work setting up for the ritual. He pulled a large sheet out of the bag and spread it out on the floor. Natsu saw that a magic circle was stitched into the cloth. The magic coming off of that sheet was enough to change the air pressure in the room.

The next items pulled from the bag were a goblet and a bottle of something. When Loke pulled the cork, the scent that filled the room made Natsu feel lite headed, like he'd drank too much sake. The liquid was poured into the goblet and he saw a sparkle of what he would describe as pure, liquid magic.

Then Loke walked over to Lucy, pulled a hair from her head and dropped it into the goblet. He then held his hand over the goblet. Natsu watched as some of Loke's gold magic dropped from his hand and into the goblet.

"Your turn," Loke said as he turned to Natsu and pulled a hair from his head.

"Hey! A little warning next time," he complained as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

Loke ignored his complaint as he dropped the hair into the mixture. "Work up a little magic and drop it in."

Natsu did as he was told and lite his hand on fire. He held it over the goblet and directed the flame straight down, careful not to overdo it. When that was done, Loke said a few words that Natsu didn't understand and a poof of red came out of the goblet.

"Okay," Loke put the goblet aside. "Natsu, put Lucy in the circle and lay down on her left side."

Natsu scooped Lucy up princess style and laid her on the sheet. As his skin touched the fabric, he could feel the magical energy pulsing off of it. As he lay down next to Lucy, he reached over to brush some stray hair away from her face. Loke didn't miss the gesture as he pulled the silver cord from the bag. That gave him a little more hope for what was to come.

"Before the next step, I need to tell you a few things," Loke said as he knelt beside Natsu. "This ritual will create a bond between you and Lucy that can't be broken…"

"Fine, do it."

He shook his head. "You can't take this lightly…"

"I'm not," Natsu interrupted him again. "I'll do anything to save her; I don't care what it does to me."

The lion spirit chuckled. _Should have known he would be like this_. Loke unwrapped a length of the silver cord from its spool. "Take Lucy's left hand in your right and hold it up." Natsu did as he was told. "Keep your forearm against hers; I need to wrap this around your arms."

When their arms were in position, he wrapped the cord around their hands and down their arms to their elbows. He cut the cord from the spool and turned to grab the next item out of the bag; but before he could, the cord around their arms began to glow. Everyone in the room was awestruck as the cord moved and wove itself into a design around Lucy and Natsu's arms. When the cord stopped moving, it flashed brightly and sunk beneath the surface of their skin, leaving what looked like iridescent matching tattoos on their arms and hands.

"That was weird. Was it supposed to do that?" Natsu asked as he studied the marks.

Loke smiled sadly as he set the bag down. "That's what the cord is meant to do." He grabbed the goblet and looked at the dragon slayer. "That cord will, in a way, create a doorway between your mind and Lucy's mind. This potion is what will allow the door to open so you can enter her mind."

Kneeling beside the blonde, Loke put his arm under her shoulders and lifted her up. Her mouth was already slightly open, which made it easier to pour some of the potion down her throat. When he was sure she had swallowed enough, he laid her back on the cloth and went around to Natsu. "Last couple bits of advice. You're going to be in Lucy's mind so I don't know what you're going to see. You need to remember that you can't be physically harmed. There may be pain, but you can move past it quickly if you try. You won't wake up until you both want to, so be sure that it's the real Lucy. She may try to trick you."

Natsu grinned. "She can try, but I know the real Lucy. I'm not going to quit until I get her back." He grabbed the goblet from Loke and chugged down the contents. As he handed the goblet back, he saw the dragon slayer's eyes droop and caught his head as he fell back to keep him from cracking it open on the floor.

"What do you require of Master and me?" Erza asked. She and Makarov had been silently watching the whole time.

"This entire room will become something like an SE Plug for magic vehicles," Loke explained as he set Natsu's head on the cloth. "It will take the energy of nearby wizards to keep Natsu and Lucy in a suspended state until they wake up. So we will trade out wizards every hour with whoever is in the hallway. But we need to keep two wizards close by to power it at all times."

Erza nodded her understanding and took a seat on a nearby chair. She had full confidence that Loke would do anything to protect Lucy and that Natsu would do everything to get her back. If they needed her to supply power to fuel the spell, she would give everything she could.

"I have a question for you, Loke." Makarov said from his seat on top of a cabinet. "I noticed that you were reaching for something else in your bag when the silver cord began moving on its own. You were as surprised as the rest of us. Why is that?"

Loke smiled. _Should have known he would see that._

"Like I said, the second person involved in this ritual must have a strong bond to the other person. The Cord of Destiny is a representation of a fate bond. Almost every other time the ritual has been done, the cord needed to be activated to bind their fates. But I remember Libra telling me about her owner and her friend who suffered from the Black Pit, they hadn't needed the cord to be activated either. Turns out that the two of them had been soul mates."

Makarov's jaw went slack as Erza gasped. Loke just chuckled.

"All this time I've been fighting to win Lucy when I never had a chance in the first place," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "I just hope they realize how strong their bond is. I know now that I'll never have her, but I still don't want to lose her."

"They'll both come back to us soon. Natsu won't have it any other way." Erza said as she stared at her friends.

**A/N: Long chapter for me, but there was some important information in there for later. **


	9. Chapter 9

*** I may not own Fairy Tail, I may never own Fairy Tail, but I shall not be ignored!**

**Natsu POV**

"Last couple bits of advice," Loke said as he knelt down next to me with the goblet in his hand. "You're going to be in Lucy's mind, so I don't know what you're going to see. You need to remember that you can't be physically harmed. There may be pain, but you can move past it quickly if you try."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that. I was tempted to ask him or Erza what it meant but I was worried about looking like an idiot and then they wouldn't let me go through with the spell. Keeping my mouth shut, I listened as Loke kept talking.

"You won't be able to wake up until you both want to," Loke continued, "so be sure that it's the real Lucy. She may try to trick you."

I grinned. She can try, but I know the real Lucy. I'm not going to stop until I get her back." Grabbing the goblet from him, I chugged down the contents. It tasted sweeter than I preferred.

The room began to spin as I handed the goblet back to Loke. Then it was as if all the color faded away until everything around me was black. It wasn't like being in the dark, I could see my body perfectly, but I just couldn't see anything else. I knew there was a floor since I could feel it beneath my feet, but there were no walls, ceiling or sky. Nothing to indicate where I was.

At first I thought that the spell had gone wrong somehow. I was supposed to be in Lucy's mind and the darkness that surrounded me didn't fit her. I spun in a circle until I saw something in the darkness. When I was sure it there, I ran towards it to get a better look. The closer I got, the more it took form; it was like an orb of purple and pink light. It floated around me, almost dancing, when I got close. When I reached out to touch it, everything around me changed.

The darkness was gone and I was in a large house. It took me a minute to recognize it as Lucy's childhood home. I had been there once when we went to get a book from her library. I took a deep breath and almost choked. The acidic scent of Lucy's madness surrounded me; but since I was in her mind, that made sense.

Just then, a little girl came skipping down the hallway towards me. She couldn't have been more than ten years old, but I'd recognize those brown eyes and that side ponytail anywhere.

"Lucy" I called out as I knelt in front of her. She didn't stop… she moved directly though my body as if I were a ghost. After a few second s of shock, I got up and followed her down the hallway. There was a big smile on her face as she carried a big rice ball between her tiny hands. We entered a room that held a large desk that her father was sitting behind. As I watched the scene play out in front of me, I realized that this was one of Lucy's memories. I swung my fist at her father for yelling at little Lucy and almost fell over, I couldn't touch him or the desk any more than I could touch Lucy. When she ran out of the room crying, I wanted nothing more than to beat the man to a pulp but I followed the little blonde girl instead. She was sitting outside the door crying, saying how today was her birthday.

The colors around me faded again and I was back in the darkness. I called out her name, but there was no response. "Lucy, how am I supposed to find you in this? You've got to help me!" I yelled as loud as I could.

Another orb of light caught my attention. As I ran toward it, I noticed that it had different colors than the first. This one was orange and green and was darting around like it didn't want to be caught, but it still came to me when I got close.

This time when I touched it, I found myself in a place I definitely recognized. Lucy was standing in front of her mom's grave at her childhood home. She looked about the same as when I first met her in Hargeon, but her hair was a lot longer and she was crying.

"Mom," I heard her say. "Dad just told me that he's negotiating with four families to see which of their sons will be the best match for the 'Heartfilia family interests.' He told me that he expects me to make a good impression and show interest in the sons since I'm expected to marry one of them. Can you believe that? He's treating this like a business merger instead of my life!"

Lucy covered her mouth as she sobbed. I watched completely stunned. I'd had no idea that her father had been so cold to his own daughter. In a way, I should have known since he had paid the Phantom Lord guild to kidnap her. But that whole thing had eventually ended up being more about guild versus guild than what her father had wanted. I remembered how I had barely gotten to the tower in time to catch her when she jumped. Now that I thought about it, it meant that she would rather jump of a building than go home to her own father.

"I can't do it, Mom." Lucy said as she continued to cry. "I want to be a great celestial wizard like you were. I want to join a guild. I want to help people. I… I want to fall in love. I want someone to love me for being me and not Lucky Lucy Heartfilia the heiress. IS THAT SO WRONG?" She screamed at the stone angel.

She turned and ran from the grave and I chased after her. When she entered a large garden, she tripped and fell onto her face. I reached to help her up, but my hands passed through her body again. Her long dress was covered in dirt down the front and she grabbed the fabric and ripped at it like a trapped animal, shrieking as she did. After a few minutes of this, she seemed to get tired and just sat there with tears still running down her face. Then she looked right at me…

At least I thought she did at first. Lucy stood and walked past me to the pond behind me as she pulled out one of her keys and stuck it in the water.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius." The water swirled and the mermaid spirit with long blue hair and a bad attitude came out of the water.

"What do you want?" The spirit scowled at Lucy. "I happen to be spending time with my boyfriend right now. That's right, my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who else to talk to," she said as she quickly told Aquarius what was going on. To the spirits credit, she actually listened to what her owner had to say. When Lucy was done, she started crying again.

"Tch, so you know, it's only because of how much I liked your mother that I'm going to tell you what I think," Aquarius told her. "Your father is being unreasonable and you are acting like a weak little girl for even thinking of going along with it. I would never marry someone I didn't love and I don't think Layla would want you to do that either. If you don't want to do it then either tell him or leave." Not a second after that, the spirit faded away to go back to the spirit world.

Lucy seemed like she was in a daze as she started walking again. I recognized the weird face she was making as she made her way back to her room, it was her thinking face. She didn't even sit down. She looked around for a moment, and then her head dropped. "I'm sorry, Mom. But I can't stay here anymore."

As the colors began to fade again, I felt something on my face. I reached up and my fingers came back wet with tears that I hadn't even known I'd cried. It was so out of character for me, I couldn't even remember the last time I cried. But now I was crying for Lucy and I didn't really understand why.

Another flash of color had me turning to my right. A blue and green orb was floating right to me but stopped a few feet away, as if it was shy. Careful not to scare it, if it could even get scared, I slowly walked over to it with my hand out toward it. It sort of flinched away when I got close, but I was still able to touch the orb.

I found myself in a forest this time. Lucy was sitting on the ground next to a small fire. The clothes she was wearing looked a bit ragged from being on the road too long. Her body shivered as she held her hands up to the fire and I wished that I could pull her into my arms and warm her up like I usually do when she's cold, but I knew that I would pass through her like every other time it had tried.

Lucy hugged her knees to her chest as tears built up in her eyes. "Maybe I should just go home. I can't live like this much longer."

"No, Lucy!" I yelled, not caring if she could hear me or not. "Don't you dare give up! You're supposed to meet me in Hargeon. I'm going to drag you out of town and you'll join Fairy Tail. You'll yell at me for destroying everything and breaking into your apartment all the time! You'll yell at that ice bastard for stripping and you'll annoy the hell out of me about paying your rent!"

The scene faded again, but it was different this time. Lucy was still sitting on the ground in front of me, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Lucy!" I knelt in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. She was there! "Luce, it's me, Natsu…" The pain I suddenly felt in my stomach made my body freeze up. I looked down and saw the hilt of a sword pressing into me. When I looked back up to her face, Lucy's eyes were completely black. She was grinning at me in a way that made my skin crawl, and I knew that I was in trouble.

**A/N: I originally didn't have the interaction between Lucy and Aquarius in this story, but I wanted her to talk to someone how might have given her the push she needed to leave home. Since she didn't really have any support system outside of her servants and her spirits at the time, Aquarius seemed like the obvious choice.**


	10. Chapter 10

*** I hope one day Hiro Mashima will read my story and like it so much that he will give me permission to use Fairy Tail and its characters, but until then I don't own them.**

**** This is a shout out to The Evil Stick, thank you for all your comments and encouragement! This chapter might have been a little boring if you hadn't inspired me. Thank You!**

**Normal POV**

Lucy laughed maliciously as she yanked the sword out of Natsu's stomach and watched him collapse to the ground. His hands pressed to the wound as he coughed up blood.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," she taunted. Lucy knelt down beside him, roughly grabbing his chin between her fingers and digging her nails into her skin. "I was hoping for a real fight, but all I had to do was show you some of that pathetic girl's memories to soften you up. It's like you wanted me to run you through."

Natsu felt sick as he watched Lucy lift the sword to her mouth and run her tongue down the broad side of the blade, licking off the blood. He wanted to turn away, but she still had a hold on his chin. He had already lost too much blood to fight her off.

"Hmm, I was expecting your blood to taste hot, maybe spicy," she mused. "But it tastes just like normal blood. Guess that means there isn't anything special about you after all. You're nothing but an over-grown lizard!" She released his chin but slashed his face with her sharp nails. He felt his cheek split open in two places and it stung like a bitch.

"Lucy, don't do this," Natsu mumbled as he kept loosing blood. "You snapped out of it before, I know you can…" A kick to his shoulder sent him rolling across the ground, he groaned in pain as he came to a stop. _I thought Loke said I couldn't get hurt, but here I am bleeding! I could actually die from this!_

"You might have woken that weak, little bitch before, but she won't wake up again." Lucy walked over to Natsu; her black eyes narrowed on his form, and stabbed him in his right thigh. She laughed as he screamed. "I've got a really good hold on her mind this time. Her body and her magic belong to me now and I will not give them up."

Natsu growled as he fought down the pain. "If you're not Lucy, then who are you?"

She laughed again as she pulled the sword from his leg. "I'm Lucy, but I'm not." She stabbed him in his left shoulder and he screamed again. "I'm the part that she never let anyone see. I'm the part that wanted to kill our father for treating us like property to be sold to the highest bidder. I'm the part that wants to make our opponent suffer and bleed every time we fight. I don't run away or cower in a corner and cry. The girl you knew was weak. She didn't deserve this life, so it's mine now."

"She's not weak!" Natsu yelled before she twisted the blade in his shoulder. His injuries were getting to him. He barely had the strength to keep his eyes open anymore. He never would have guessed that Lucy could be so sadistic and cruel, these injuries were even worse than the ones she had given him when they were awake…

His eyes shot open. _That's it! Loke said I couldn't get physically hurt because it's all in our heads!_ Concentrating on the stab wound at his gut, he told himself over and over that it wasn't real. In an instant, the pain and the blood that had been there was gone. _If this is how it works in our minds, I might have a way to fight back now._

Lucy was shocked when Natsu suddenly grabbed the blade of the sword and it melted away in his hand until the only thing that remained was the handle she was holding. She also noticed that the all wounds she had inflicted were gone. When he smiled at her, she smiled back. "I was wondering if you would ever figure that out," she sneered at him. "Thought I would have more time before you did, considering how stupid you are. I really wanted to play with you some more. It doesn't matter though. I'll never let that weakling beat me."

"You're wrong," Natsu said as he stood, his strength fully returned to him. "Lucy has never been weak. She's stronger than anyone I know."

She laughed. "That girl was never strong. She cried, she ran away, she expected everyone else to take care of her. Me, on the other hand, I know how to take care of myself!" A knife materialized in Lucy's hand and she threw it at Natsu.

He didn't even try to dodge it. Natsu opened his mouth wide and imagined the knife turning into a fireball. It immediately changed and he swallowed in down. "For claiming that you're part of Lucy, you don't seem to know much about her," Natsu said as he stared her down. He knew that attacking her wouldn't do any good since it was all in their heads. He'd already proven that she couldn't hurt him anymore and he couldn't bring himself to attack her. That left him with only one option, and it had worked before…

"And you think you know her?" She sneered. Ropes lashed out of the darkness, wrapping around Natsu's ankles, wrists, torso and throat.

He smiled at her. "I know that you call her weak but she was strong enough to break free of you. According to Loke, no one has ever done that before."

"Nothing but a fluke," she snapped as the course ropes tightened around him, leaving rope burns on his skin.

The ropes turned to fire a moment later and Natsu sucked down the flames, healing his wounds. He grinned at her after he swallowed. "It could have been a fluke, except she did it twice. Lucy's stronger than you want to admit. And since you claim to be the same person, let me tell you about yourself."

"No!" A bed of glass appeared between Natsu and Lucy as she backed a few steps away from him. Her reaction spurred him on, she was getting scared which meant that he was on the right track.

Imagining the glass as being nothing but feathers, he slowly walked toward her. "You prefer sweet food to greasy food. Your favorite drink at the guild is a hot chai tea with lots of sugar."

"So you pay attention to what I eat, big deal!"

"When you lived at your father's home, you always wore long dresses that you hated. So now you always wear miniskirts even when pants would be better for a mission."

"Shut up!" Twenty knives flew at Natsu as she screamed. They turned into wisps of smoke as he continued to walk toward her.

"You do get scared when you come up against an enemy that you think is stronger than you, but you keep fighting. Especially if a friend is in danger, you fight to protect them."

Natsu suddenly found himself completely incased in ice, he melted it a moment later with his fire. Her hands were shaking, he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Hoping that it meant the real Lucy was trying to take back control, he kept going.

"You're a celestial spirit wizard like your mom and she taught you that celestial spirits were more than just tools to be used. You treat your spirits like friends and they love you for that. You call your friends at the guild your family and they think of you the same way. Right now, everyone is worried sick about you and they want you to come back…"

"STOP!"

Swords flew out of the darkness from every direction too fast for Natsu to dodge or imagine them differently. He felt himself being stabbed all over his body before collapsing. Blood dripped from his wounds as he struggled to think clearly.

_Okay… that one hurt a bit. If it was the real world I would probably be dead. But this isn't real, and I am not going to die!_ His fire flared, melting the swords and healing his wounds at the same time. _I won't stop until I save Lucy!_

Natsu was still breathing heavily as he stood back up. "You won't scare me away, Luce. I would never leave you."

"I don't need your pity! I don't need you at all," she screamed as she backed away from him.

"Yes, you do. You depend on me more than anyone else in the guild."

"LIAR!"

"Whenever you get cold in your sleep and I come by your apartment, I climb in bed with you to keep you warm. When you jumped from Phantom Lord's tower, you knew I would be there to catch you. Whenever you need to make your rent, you take a job with me. And when you got poisoned, you trusted me to keep your spirits and our family safe from you."

Lucy pulled her hair as she shook her head. Natsu had been sure that last part would have snapped her back to her old self, but she wasn't there yet. Not sure what else to do, he kept talking.

"You're a weirdo but you're also smart, kind, funny and brave. You dance like a fairy even when I step on your feet. You make the best food, which is why Happy and I are always asking you to make us something. I don't read much but I want to read your book because I know it'll be amazing. Plus, you have the best scent in the world, strawberries and honey. Whenever I feel like I'm going stir-crazy or I just need to relax, I go over to your apartment or I find you. Your scent calms me down and makes me happy like nothing else; but since you got poisoned, that scent is gone."

Natsu was close enough now that he was able to grab her by her arms. She struggled against his hold but he didn't let her go. She looked panicked, like a trapped animal, and knowing that he was the one that was scaring her so much hurt. But he had to do this, he had to get through to his Lucy.

"It's like all the things that I identify as being parts of you are slipping away. I'm too selfish to let that happen. You need me but I need you more. I'm in love with you, Luce, and I refuse to live without you."

Lucy gasped. Her eyes began flashing back and forth from brown to black. "No… you're lying. You're only saying that to fight her back… fight me back…" She groaned and gripped her head as if she was in pain.

"You asked me why I kissed your neck that night in the hotel. It was because I couldn't hold back anymore. I didn't know how you felt about me, I still don't know, but I felt like it was my only chance." He wrapped one arm around her to press her body to his and cupped her cheek with his other hand. Her eyes continued to flash back and forth. "I'm begging you. Please, beat this thing. Don't leave me like Igneel did. You're my mate and I won't be able to survive losing you too. And if you can't fight for me, then fight for everyone waiting for you at Fairy Tail. Please, Luce. I love you."

Desperate, Natsu leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her push against his chest to get away but he kept his hold. Even though it was only in their minds, he poured everything he could into that kiss. If he had to kiss her a thousand times until she realized how much he needed her, how much he loved her, he would do it so long as she came back to him.

Lucy gasped again as a sharp pain shot through her head, like something was ripped out of her. She felt herself falling as he legs gave out but Natsu caught her. Then the pain was gone.

Natsu looked at her and saw those beautiful brown eyes he had come to know. The acidic scent changed, surrounding him with the smell of strawberries and honey.

A flash of light surrounded them, blinding both of them for a moment. When they could see again, neither one of them could believe what they saw. They were surrounded by images and memories from both of their minds.

**Lucy POV**

I gripped Natsu's shirt as the images surrounded us. Immediately, I recognized a lot of them as my memories. Others, I didn't recognize at all until a feeling came over me and I knew that they were Natsu's memories. I could see and feel everything that he had experienced. How much he loved Igneel and how devastated he had been when the dragon had disappeared. The excitement he felt whenever he beat someone in a fight. How hurt he had been when Lisanna, _his sister_, had supposedly died and then how excited he was to find out that she was alive. And there was so much more.

What shocked me the most were all the memories and emotions that were tied to me. The day we met in Hargeon; when he thought I had gone home for good; when I appeared in Edolas; Kane attacking me during the S-class exams. I blushed when I saw the memory of Natsu coming to my apartment a few days ago and seeing me after I dropped the towel.

There wasn't a single thing I didn't know about Natsu or how he felt about me. He hadn't lied when he said that he loved me. I was everything to him. When I looked up at him, I was surprised to see him crying. Natsu never cried. Then I realized that he was going through the same thing as I was. He knew every memory and feeling I had about him.

Before I could do anything, he cupped my face between his hands and used his thumbs to wipe my tears away. We didn't speak to each other, we didn't need to. I was in love with him and he loved me back. I stood on my toes and kissed him with every bit of emotion I was feeling.

His hands were firm on my cheeks and his lips were demanding against mine. When I felt his tongue lick my lower lip, I opened my mouth to grant him entrance. He was so eager that it almost made me giggle. Natsu's tongue ran across my own and I sucked on it as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I heard him moan and was eager to see what other sounds he would make but he then drew his mouth away from mine. He hugged me to his chest with one arm around my waist and the other buried in my hair.

"It's time for us to wake up," he said.

"But I want to stay like this a little longer," I told him as I buried my face in his chest.

"I know, Luce. But I want to hold you and kiss you for real, not just in our heads. Plus, I want to let everyone know that you're mine."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? I mean, you haven't even asked me out on a date yet and you think I'm your girlfriend," I teased.

"I don't think, I know. And I'm going to prove that you're so much more than that. You're my mate, Luce. So let's wake up and tell everyone."

Pulling away, she smiled up at him. "See you on the other side. I'm ready to wake up now."

**A/N: This chapter was always meant to be a little bloody, but after some comments from one of my followers I was inspired to make it a lot more intense. I hoped you all liked it! Please review, I love hearing from all of you!**


	11. Chapter 11

*** I wish upon a star, that someday I may own Fairy Tail**

**Normal POV**

Loke stared down at Natsu and Lucy's bodies as he felt the drain of magic energy stop. He looked over at Gray and Juvia to see if they felt it too. The ice wizard stood from his seat next to the blue haired woman and readied his magic. The water wizard was doing the same. If their friends woke up suffering from the madness, they didn't want to be taken by surprise.

Natsu's eyes blinked open the same time as Lucy's. Both of their bodies felt stiff from lying on the floor of the infirmary for a while, but it didn't seem to matter. Their heads turned toward each other, Lucy blushed and smiled as Natsu gave her a toothy grin.

Without noticing the other three people in the room, Lucy turned onto her side and lifted her hand to touch Natsu's cheek. He was amazing, fighting his way through her mind and the darkness that had taken her over to bring her back. He could claim it was for his own selfish reasons but she knew better. He was her hero. She loved him.

Leaning in, she kissed him softly on the lips. This kiss was different from all the others they had shared before. She wasn't paralyzed by a poison, she wasn't acting because of madness, and it wasn't all in her and Natsu's minds. It was 100 percent real and under her control.

Around them, Gray's hands dropped as he gaped at his teammates. Juvia covered her mouth as she blushed, secretly glad that she no longer had a love rival for Gray. Loke was the only one who wasn't surprised. He cleared his throat, which caused the two of them to jump apart from each other.

Lucy blushed. _Have they been in the room the whole time?_

Loke knelt down in front of them to get a better look at their eyes; he didn't want to take any chances. "How do you two feel?"

"I don't feel like killing anyone, if that's a good sign," Lucy said, then frowned. "I feel really guilty about what happened though. I remember everything I did, it was like I was dream-walking through a nightmare and I couldn't wake up. Are you okay, Juvia?"

The blue haired woman nodded. "Juvia is okay now. Actually, better than okay." She smiled as she took Gray's hand. Gray just blushed.

"Is Taurus okay?"

Loke nodded. "He knows you weren't in control of your actions. He doesn't blame you for what happened. He was more worried than anything, we all were."

The lion spirit noticed tears forming in her eyes. Before he could do anything, Natsu was pulling her into his arms and telling her that it wasn't her fault. Loke couldn't help but smile. He might not like the idea that Lucy was forever out of his reach, but at least he knew that it was for real love and not some fling.

"Let's go tell everyone that we're awake," Natsu said as he stroked her back. "I also want to let everyone know that you're mine now."

**Natsu POV**

The next few hours were a blur, starting with relieved faces and turned into a celebration of the success of the spell. I could tell that Lucy felt really guilty about what she had done to her friends; the worst were the people she had attacked. I did my best to not let it get to her; I stayed by her side as she apologized to everyone.

Everyone easily accepted her apology except Gajeel. He hadn't cared so much that his arm had been broke, but he was pissed that Levy had gotten hurt. Considering the scent that was coming off of the two of them, I was sure that they had gotten pretty close since Lucy's rampage. Even though I understood why the iron dragon slayer was angry, I wasn't going to let him make Lucy cry again. I was ready to beat the crap out of the metal head before Levy got between us and told him to back off. He did but he still kept a close eye on the bluenette when she hugged and talked to my Lucy.

_My Lucy,_ I smiled as the words rolled over in my head. We hadn't had the chance to say anything to everyone in the guild yet, but we weren't hiding it either. We hadn't moved more than a meter or so away from each other since we left the infirmary. We were constantly holding hands, specifically the hands with the silver designs on them. Lucy had asked me about them and I explained that it was part of the spell. That if we wanted to know more about them, we would just have to ask Loke.

The party went all through the night and into the next day. It was like after we had won the Grand Magic Games, but it meant even more to me than that. Some point late in the night, Lucy got tired and fell asleep against my chest. I leaned against one of the guild pillars just holding her. I saw Reedus painting something while the rest of the guild partied. A while later, he came over and showed me the painting of me holding Lucy. Her face cute with a light blush as she slept, one hand was gripping my vest in her sleep. I had her arms wrapped in my arms with my forehead resting against hers. My expression was one I had never seen in all the drawing he had made of me. Best way I could describe it... I looked totally at peace. I asked Reedus if I could have that painting later so I could give it to Lucy, I had a feeling she would like it. He agreed.

Gramps called us into the office the next morning when the guild started waking up to party again. I could tell Lucy was nervous, I was too, but I did my best to comfort her. We sat down in his office, still refusing to release each other's hands.

"I'm glad that the both of you are okay, you had everyone worried there." Makarov said, with a small smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, Master," Lucy apologized, her head hanging. If I hadn't been so careless…"

"Stop with that nonsense, child. From what Natsu told me, you kept him from getting poisoned as well when you were first attacked. The entire guild knows that if Natsu had been affected by the Black Pit, the damage would have been far worse; not only to the guild but to everyone in the surrounding area. I do not want to hear you doubting or regretting what you have done again. Understood?"

With tears in her eyes, Lucy smiled and nodded her head.

"Now for the main reason I asked you both here. It has to do with the marks you received during the ritual," he said with a sly grin on his face.

I lifted our linked hands and looked at them curiously. "I thought Loke said it was to create a doorway from my mind to her mind. Does it do something else?"

His grin got bigger as he looked at us and explained the truth behind the silver tattoos. When he said "soul mates," Lucy's hand gripped mine so tight it felt like my bones might break. I was a bit stunned, but it made sense in a way. After seeing Lucy's mind and how she felt about me, I couldn't imagine myself with anyone but her. Looking over at her, I could tell that she felt the same way.

I couldn't help but grin at her. "See, I told you we were going to be more than boyfriend and girlfriend. You're my mate, Luce." She ducked her eyes as she started blushing, but I didn't miss the smile that stretched across her face.

"There's more to it than you think," Gramps said as he pulled Lucy's keys from his desk. I had given him the keys for safekeeping since I hadn't wanted to leave Lucy's side but I wanted the keys out of her reach. I was surprised when he handed me the keys instead of Lucy. "Try summoning a spirit," he told me.

I was confused as I looked down at the keys in my hands. _I don't know how to summon spirits, what am I supposed to do?_ Not sure what else to do, I picked one that I recognized and held it out the way I had seen Lucy do it. I don't know how, but I somehow knew how to focus my magic as I called out, "Open, Gate of the Ram, Aries!"

In a poof of pink, Aries appeared in the room with us. "I'm sorry. You called for me, master Natsu."

"Umm… ah…" I didn't know what to say. I had no clue how to summon spirits and even if I did, Aries had a contract with Lucy. She shouldn't have come when I called. I did know that much. "How did I do that?" I finally asked.

"I'm sorry, I'll explain," Aries said as she fidgeted shyly in front of us. "Soul mates who are marked by the Cord of Destiny share magic. In the case of celestial wizards, it means that all the contracts Lucy-sama has are also shared by master Natsu now. I'm sorry if that displeases you."

"It's okay, Aries," Lucy said beside me. "Thanks for telling us, you can go back now."

She said "I'm sorry" one more time before poofing away again. I couldn't believe it; I could summon Lucy's spirits now. It also surprised me now much magic it took to summon her, it felt like a huge chuck of my magic had been used in that one shot… yet I'd seen Lucy summon four of them in one fight and sometimes two at once. It gave me a whole new respect for the type of magic she used.

_But if I can summon her spirits, does that mean she can use my dragon slayer magic too?_ Before I could ask, she held up her free hand and it ignited on fire. The flames looked a little different than mine; there were gold sparks that crackled as it burned. I watched her face for a moment to make sure that she wasn't hurt, but I didn't see any pain on her face. Instead, she looked absolutely amazed.

"Loke explained that this was a possibility should the two of you emerge from the spell alive," Gramps said, looking serious. "Both of your magic will have increased a great amount due to the change and may be unpredictable for a time, so I expect both of you to take at least two months off from doing missions to become better acquainted with how your magic works. At the end of the two months, I will decide if you have enough control to take missions again."

I didn't like the idea of taking so much time off, but thanks to the job we had just done, Lucy and I had enough to cover expenses, specifically her rent, for that time. It also meant that I would get to spend the next two months training with Lucy.

Lifting our joined hands, I kissed her knuckles and looked at her. "Looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she smiled back. "I love you, Natsu."

"Love you too, Luce."

**A/N: It's close! One more chapter and this story is officially done! Will work on posting it as quickly as possible. It won't really be necessary to the story line, but I felt like this story deserved a romantic ending.. well, _more_ romantic ending. ;-)**


	12. Chapter 12

*** I absolutely love Fairy Tail, but I don't own it.**

**** LEMON ALERT! LEMON ALERT! Sexy stuff ahead, you have been warned.**

**Normal POV**

_**Three Weeks Later**_

"I told you we weren't ready to challenge Erza," Lucy said as she helped Natsu limp into her apartment.

"Are you kidding? We almost had her! By next week, I know we'll be… OW!" Natsu had jumped away from her and put too much weight on his injured left leg. She caught him easily thanks to her new strength. Lucy chuckled at her boyfriend as she walked him to the bed and both of them flopped back on top of the covers.

Their abilities had grown and changed a lot since they had woken up from the spell. Lucy's physical strength had increased so much that she'd beaten Elfman at arm wrestling. Her celestial magic now let her summon up to three zodiac spirits at once. She wasn't as powerful as Natsu with her new dragon slayer magic, but she was working on it. Control was the hardest part; she'd accidently set parts of her apartment on fire more than once and had a lot more respect for the control Natsu had over his flames.

Lucy's dragon slayer magic was a little different from Natsu's. She didn't have any of the lightning magic that Laxus had given him, but her own magic had converged with his to create something new. Like Natsu, she could consume fire to re-energize her magic, she could light her entire body on fire, and she could roar. Unlike Natsu, there were gold sparks in her fire that created small explosions on contact. She had mentioned that these sparks reminded her of star bursts, so he had started calling her a Starfire Dragon Slayer.

Natsu's changes had been more subtle but just as dramatic. His physical and magical power had increased alarmingly; he had even knocked Gray out with one punch. His celestial magic was good enough to summon one zodiac spirit at a time and up to three in one fight. He had trouble summoning them when he got too angry or emotional, but he was able to combine his dragon slayer magic with certain zodiac spirits like Scorpio, Taurus and even Aquarius. Those combined attacks brought on a degree of destruction that made his old magic pale in comparison and most of the guild extremely nervous.

It was even more amazing when the two of them worked together. They could re-energize each other with their flames so they could, in theory, never run out of magic energy. When they synchronized their attacks, the damage was close to total devastation. And Natsu had even learned how to help her with Urano Meteoria, though it took a lot of practice to learn how to focus his magic and all the words to the spell.

"Feels great to come that close to beating her, doesn't it?" He said as he hugged her side.

Lucy smiled. It had been a really close fight for a while. With zodiac spirits and two types of fire dragon slayers coming at her, Erza had been facing a small army. The requip wizard had dispatched the spirits quickly but had still taken a fair amount of damage from them in the process, especially from Loke, but doing so had given Lucy the chance to use her new special attack.

"Starfire Dragon Slayer Secret Art, Star Dust!"

The attack created hundreds of balls of fire that shoot from her body like shooting stars, surrounding the target on all side and exploding on impact. It was sort of like Urano Meteoria, but it was faster to cast, didn't take as much magic or do as much damage. Erza had been unable to dodge the Star Dust attack, which left an opening for Natsu to summon Taurus and use their combo attack. Their attack set Taurus's axe on fire which he swung it at Erza, even though he did not make contact, the flames from the blades slashed like a spinning saw blade and shredded the armor that Erza had been wearing. This blow sent her flying into the nearby water, but she came flying back a moment later to take out the spirit. Lucy had been low on magic after Star Dust and was to slow to counter the red headed woman, who knocked her out cold. This upset Natsu enough that he wasn't able to summon another spirit, but he kept going with his fire magic. After a while, he missed an attack and Erza took out his left leg before knocking him unconscious as well.

Lucy and Natsu woke up a few minutes later to Wendy healing their wounds. Erza had smiled at the both of them as she continued to breathe heavily and told them to work on their combo attacks. "If you come up with a few more of those and synchronize your attacks more, I might not be able to beat you next time." After that, they had spent the rest of the day recovering at the guild. They were too beaten up to train for the rest of the day, but their energy had recovered a bit before limping back to Lucy's apartment. They may have lost, but it felt so good to have had Erza on the ropes like that.

"Feels amazing," said Lucy, "but Erza's right, we need to work on our combo attacks so we won't have any holes in our strategy. We also have to remember to keep feeding each other fire so neither one of us will run out of magic."

"More training, I like that idea. Especially if you can come up with more dragon slayer attacks like Star Dust." Natsu pulled her close and gave her a kiss. "I still can't believe you came up with that attack so quickly. I've never seen that kind of attack before from any other dragon slayer."

"I'm more amazed at how well you and Aquarius get along. She hasn't tried to wash you away once!"

He grinned. "I think it's because I'm a guy, so she doesn't have to worry about me trying to steal Scorpio from her. And I think she'll tone it down with you since you're my girlfriend now."

"I hope so. I really hate getting washed away every time I summon her." Lucy sighed and wrapped her arms around him.

Despite the fight with Erza, this was the easiest day she'd had since waking from the spell. Natsu had been so focused on training and learning celestial magic that they were constantly worn out. Tonight was different though, she had a plan and she was pretty sure it would work. "I'm going to take a bath and then I'll fix us something to eat."

"Nah, I'll make us something while you take your bath. I'm too hungry to wait."

Lucy hummed happily. "I like it when you cook for me."

"But your cooking tastes ten times better than mine."

She gave him another kiss before climbing off the bed. Grabbing a towel, she entered her bathroom and shut the door behind her. Natsu was more than tempted to follow her inside. He had wanted to take their relationship to the next level but between training and Happy hanging around, they hadn't had a chance. They had been affectionate, kissing each other at every opportunity, but he was pretty sure they wanted more. At least he did. Today though, he had asked Happy to stay with Wendy and Carla so he could have some time alone with Lucy.

Natsu knew it was going to be her first time so he wanted to do this right. Granted, it was his first time too, but he knew it meant more to girls than it did to guys. He wasn't much for the romantic stuff either, but he knew a nice dinner would be a good start. Then he could try giving her a back rub, maybe he should play some music on a lakrama too.

Walking to the kitchen, he started looking through the fridge to figure out what to make for dinner. A minute later, he heard the bathroom door open and glanced around the corner… and his body went on high alert. Lucy was wearing nothing but a towel as she walked over to her dresser muttering about how she forgot to grab a change of clothes.

Every fantasy he'd had about that day came to mind as she opened a drawer and started digging through it for her clothes. The towel barely covered her body and this caused his mouth to water. All of Natsu's plans went out the window as he stalked toward her. _Romance is overrated anyway. Actions speak louder than words too._

Lucy knew it was coming but still gasped when Natsu came up behind her, grabbed her arms and pulled her against his body. Her triumphant smile turned into a moan as he nipped at the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. She'd known that walking out in just a towel would get his attention after seeing how he felt about it the last time, now she could enjoy!

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders as his other hand whipped the towel off of her body. She hadn't had time to bathe yet so her scent was strong and it was driving him crazy with need. Natsu turned her around before pushing her against the dresser and pressing his body against hers. He growled as he kissed her passionately, his tongue forcing past her lips to conquer the inside of her mouth. A part of his mind realized that he might have been treating her a little rough, but then she moaned into the kiss, wrapped her arms around him and dug her nails into his shoulders. The little pains sent a thrill all the way down to his member and he kissed her even harder.

Lifting her up by her ass, she wrapped her legs around his waist and let herself grind against the bulge forming in his pants. Lucy had never known this side of her existed. Even as she moaned when Natsu started playing with her left breast, she couldn't help but blush. His fingers pinched and plucked at her nipple as his mouth moved from her lips to behind her ear.

"You know I was planning to seduce you tonight," he told her before sucking on her earlobe. "Dinner, music, a back rub…" He nipped her neck. "Then you come walking out looking like that…" Another growl rumbled in his chest as he bit her a little harder.

Lucy chuckled. "Guess we're going with my plan then."

He pulled back to look at her as he lowered her back down. She let her feet hit the floor as they looked at each other. "You planned that?"

Nervous, she nodded, hoping that it wouldn't kill the mood. She wasn't ready for the fun to stop.

Natsu was shocked. Did she not realize that she had just brought his fantasy to life and made it better than he could have ever imagined? _My mate is the smartest, sexiest, and sweetest woman in the world. I don't care if I have to get beat up by Erza every day, if this is what Lucy does afterwards, I'll gladly loose every time._

Grinning from ear to ear and cupped her face between his hands. He gave her a sweet kiss on her lips and was still smiling when he pulled back. "I have never loved you more!"

She smiled at him and grabbed his scarf as she slipped out of his arms. He continued to grin like an idiot as she led him to the bed, but he couldn't help it. She was so sexy and perfect and all his.

As Lucy sat on the bed, she slipped off his scarf before reaching up and opening Natsu's single sleeve waist coat. She helped him slide it down his arms and dropped it to the floor. He got to work taking off his pants, but it proved to be more difficult than usual with Lucy's hands running down his chest and stomach. By the time her fingers reached the top of his pants, he couldn't take it anymore. He gripped the fabric and ripped them away. He'd worry about clothes later; right now the only thing on his mind was feeling her skin against his.

She lay back as he crawled over top of her and started kissing her again as soon as her mouth was in reach. They both moaned as Natsu pressed his naked body flush against hers. She swore she could feel every muscle against her, but what got her attention the most was his cock pressing against her thigh. It felt big and hot against her. She knew that it was supposed to hurt the first time, but his size worried her. Would he fit? Would it hurt more?

Those thoughts faded to the background as be started playing with her breasts again. Her left breast was being teased by his hand as his mouth trailed down from her mouth to lick the nipple of her right breast. It felt so good as he teased and played with her, she could have sworn there was a direct line of pleasure from her breasts to her core. But it wasn't enough, there was a near desperate need growing in her core that needed to be satisfied.

He couldn't get enough of Lucy. Her skin, her taste, her scent; he wanted to experience everything about her. Her breasts were large and overflowed his hands, but her nipples were sensitive. Every lick and nip had her moaning or hissing. Natsu wanted to play with them some more but there was a stronger scent that was practically taking him by the nose and leading him down to her core. As he made his way down, he eased her legs apart so he could see her. He had never seen this part of a woman before, he couldn't explain why but it sent a thrill to his member so strong that it hurt. It reminded him of a pair of lips, and she seemed to be wet there.

Natsu had heard other men at the guild talk about how women liked being touched and stroked there with fingers and tongues. He had to admit, he was eager to try it. Cautiously, he ran his finger lightly from the bottom of the lips to the top, collecting the moisture as he did. When Lucy jumped and cried out in pleasure, it encouraged him to do more. He continued to trace them with his finger as he watched her face. When he found the nub at the top, she bucked and moaned. Natsu smiled at her and continued to play with the nub as his other hand explored the entrance hidden between the lips. It was so tight he could barely fit his finger inside. As he pushed inside, she shrieked and he stilled his hand in case he was hurting her.

"Lucy…"

"Don't you dare stop," she panted.

He grinned up at her as he withdrew his finger. "Not a chance," he quickly pushed two fingers inside her. She shrieked again as her inner walls squeezed around him. He worked the digits in and out of her entrance, all the while rubbing the nub with his other hand. This was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. She was so beautiful with her hair splayed across the pillow, her face flushed, and his fingers inside of her. But he couldn't take it anymore, with such a strong scent coming from her; he had to know how she tasted. Natsu removed his fingers from her entrance and brought them to his mouth. The fluid he sucked from them was thick and a little sticky, almost like honey, and the taste had him desperate for more.

The withdrawal of his fingers left Lucy disappointed, she had been so close and he just stopped! She looked down at him as he shifted his position so that his head was between her legs. His eyes met hers for a moment before he ran the tip of his tongue along the length of her opening. Her head fell back to the pillow as her back arched off the bed. He placed an arm across her hips to keep her still, but she couldn't help it. He was driving her to ecstasy so fast that her mind and body were having trouble keeping up with each other.

The taste of her was even stronger from the source, he loved it and, judging by how much she was squirming, she loved it too. He licked and sucked, drinking down as much of her juices as he could. Her fingers gripped his hair as her legs wrapped around her shoulders, as if to keep him from getting away. Nothing short of Acnologia attacking Fairy Tail again would take him away from her, and even then it would be a struggle.

"Natsu… ah…"

Hearing her moan his name turned him on so much that his erection was starting to get painful. He wanted to slam right into her but he had enough sense to let her orgasm at least once before he entered her. He inserted his fingers back into her entrance while still keeping an arm across her stomach and sucking on the sensitive nub with his mouth.

Lucy moaned at the onslaught of sensations as she gripped Natsu's hair. Her core got hotter as a tingling sensation raced down her legs and back up again. When it reached her core, her entire body froze for a moment before bursting apart in the most powerful orgasm she'd ever experienced in her life. She screamed his name as she dug her heals into his back and her body bucked. Only his firm arm across her hips kept her in place as he continued to lick and pump his fingers in and out of her.

He felt her entrance grip his fingers as she screamed his name and her fluids over flow his mouth and ran down his chin. The taste was even stronger than before. He continued to pump his fingers in time with her body's spasms until they slowed down. Natsu couldn't take it any longer; he **had** **to** get inside her. Crawling up her body, he left a trail of kisses on her skin until he reached he face. She was still panting from her orgasm and that put a smug smile on his face.

Her fingers were still gripping his hair and she used the hold to pull his lips to her in demand of a real kiss. She could taste herself on his mouth, which somehow made her feel hotter. When she felt Natsu probing at her entrance with something thicker and much larger than his fingers, she couldn't help but tense a little. For the first time since they started, they slowed down.

His eyes locked on hers. "I'll go as easy as I can… but I can't… stop." Natsu panted as he waited for her.

Lucy nodded and switched her grip to his shoulders. "I trust you."

He kissed her again as he eased the head of his cock into her core. She couldn't help but whimper as her body stretched around him. He kept going until she felt him nudge at her inner barrier and paused. He was sweating as his eyes found hers again. "Fast… or slow?"

She understood what he was asking and considering her tolerance for pain, it would be better to do it fast, like pulling off a bandage. "Fast."

He nodded then thrust the rest of the way inside her. Lucy cried out but Natsu caught her mouth in a kiss. He hated that this hurt her but it felt so good. It took every bit of his self-control to not start humping her like a wild animal. She needed time to adjust and he would give her that time, even if it killed him.

It took a minute and a couple of deep breathes, but the pain finally started to fade. To gauge how it felt, she rolled her hips a little. There was still a little pain but not as much as before. The movement made Natsu moan and he began to slowly move in and out of her. The remaining pain faded away, replaced by pleasure that was different from before, more intense. They soon found a rhythm that had her limbs shaking and his body threatening to go up in flames.

Lucy could feel another wave of pleasure building up inside of her, but it seemed out of reach. She needed more. "Faster," she begged as she nipped at the scar on his neck.

His body shuttered at her breathy request as he increased his speed. This was better than anything he could have imagined. He wanted this whole experience to last all night, but he could feel the tension building in his lower stomach. He wanted her to cum one more time; he wanted to feel her inner wall squeeze his cock like it had on his fingers. He had to make this count.

Without pulling out of her; Natsu sat up on his knees, gripped her hips and lifted them off the mattress. He increased his speed as he drove into her even deeper. She gasped and thrust her hips against him as the tension inside her built even faster. He lifted another inch and she shrieked when he hit a spot she hadn't known existed. It was becoming too much, she was going to break and there would be nothing left of her!

The next thrust had her screaming his name again as he felt her core grip him tightly. He lost all control as he fell on top of her and started thrusting like crazy. Just as he felt the tension inside him snap and his own orgasm let loose, he bit her shoulder. He hears her moan again as her nails dug into his back deep enough to draw blood. They road their high for a while before Natsu's arms lost their strength and he collapsed beside her on the bed.

Turning on her side, she wrapped an arm around his waist as he pulled her against his chest. They were sweaty, sticky and probably smelled bad, but they couldn't care less. In that moment, everything was perfect.

"Now I'm really starving," Natsu chuckled as he kissed the bite mark on her shoulder.

"And I really need a bath, but I don't think I can walk."

"I'll carry you, but I want another minute like this," he said as he trailed his fingers over her skin.

Lucy snuggled closer to him. "Do you want to join me? I'll cook after we're done."

"Hmm, Lucy dinner, that sounds great." He kissed her lips; he couldn't seem to get enough of her. "You know, Igneel told me once that I would find a mate someday and when I did, she would become my whole world. I didn't believe him, of course cause what could be more important than fire, food and fighting?" Natsu took her left hand in his right, matching up their soul mate marks. "I am so glad I was wrong."

_**The End**_

**A/N: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY DONE! Thank you everyone for reading my story! I loved writing it and I hoped you loved reading it! **


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